Minister of Ports and Shipping Arjuna Ranatunga says that when they attempted to root out the corruption and fraud which had plagued the Port before the new government came to power, the individuals who were involved in such activities tried to create issues and halt operations of the port.

He made these comments during a briefing held with a panel of expertise, at the Ministry of Ports and Shipping.

“Not only solving issues in the country, it’s important to consider the ideas of the expertise as well when solving issues of the Ports Authority. We have already appointed an advisory panel regarding the marine industry. Advises from the expertise is important when getting assistances for other factors as well, not only regarding the marine industry,” he said.

However, according to Ranatunga before the ‘Good Governance’ government came to power last year, no such culture existed in the country. 

“But, in the past there was no such culture. We took over a corrupted society on the 8th of January,” he was quoted as saying in a statement. 

“For example let us take the Port. Everywhere in this port it mostly consisted of corruption and fraud. When we were trying to stop all these corruption and fraud the people who were involved in these activities were trying to make issues and stop the operations of the port.”