The Presidential Secretariat has issued a statement in response to the comments made by MP Chandima Weerakkody in Parliament recently regarding the use of vehicles in the Presidential Secretariat.

Amidst many challenges, during the first two years of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s tenure, measures were taken to render an immense service to the public utilizing minimal resources, the PMD release said.

It said that the total number of employees and vehicles attached to the Presidential Secretariat that contribute to fulfilling a broad task including all projects implemented across the country, is one-third (1/3) of the total number of employees and vehicles that were in service under the Yahapalana Government.

“However, it should be noted that the statement made by Member of Parliament Chandima Weerakkody in Parliament on Friday (19) regarding the use of vehicles in the Presidential Secretariat was incorrect and was presented without any factual study.”

“It must be said with responsibility that following in the footsteps of the President, no official in the Presidential Secretariat uses motorcades. Also, many officers do not use the vehicle entitled to them and use the vehicles belonging to the vehicle pool for the relevant official purpose.”

Therefore, the Presidential Secretariat pointed out that it is very unfortunate that Mr. Chandima Weerakkody has come up with such “erroneous information” without proper study.