According to reliable sources, the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance S. R. Attygalle has issued a letter stating that the Chairman of Litro Gas Thushara Jayasinghe has been removed from his post without informing the President.
While inspecting the Litro Gas Terminal at Kerawalapitiya, the President came to know that the Chairman of Litro Gas had been removed.
This incident has taken place when media reports that the former Chairman of the Housing Development Authority Renuka Perera is to be appointed to the post of Thushara Jayasinghe, removing him from the relevant post.
According to social media reports, a group of people including a high-ranking government official were pressuring the chairman of Litro Gas to buy gas from an Oman company at a higher price.
The letter regarding the removal of Theshara Jayasinghe, which is said to have been issued by the Minister of Finance, had not yet reached him. Sources also said that the letter was initially addressed to a Sri Lankan insurance company.
However, the Presidential Media Unit had only officially announced that President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had inspected the Litro Gas Terminal at Kerawalapitiya today.
The relevant announcement also states:
President Rajapaksa visited the main operations room at the terminal and inspected the process of delivering gas from the ship to the land and storing it.
The terminal has four storage tanks of 2,000 tons each and maintains a daily storage of 8,000 tons of gas. Litro’s monthly gas supply is 30,000 tons. To fulfill this requirement, 07 ships are bringing gas monthly.
Delivering gas to factories using bowser trucks and filling cylinders with gas is being done at the Kerawalapitiya terminal. The company says Litro Gas is distributed nationwide by 42 dealer shops and 12,000 grocery shops. In the last few days, between 70,000-80,000 gas cylinders have been distributed daily throughout the country. The company expects it would be able to meet the current demand for Litro gas in the next few days.
Theshara Jayasinghe, Chairman of Litro Gas, said that an institute for operations and gas research will be set up at the Hambantota terminal this year.
The President inspected the gas storage tank premises and the filling yard and replied to the inquires of the staff of the company.
Minister Bandula Gunawardena, Minister of State Shehan Semasinghe, Chief Adviser to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the Finance Ministry S. R. Attygalle, and Secretary to the Ministry of Technology Jayantha de Silva were also present.
