Maithri’s unpaid food bills; Rs. 250,000 a day, total Rs. four million

It has been three years since the last Presidential election was held, but the bills for the expenses of that period are yet to be settled. It was Maithripala Sirisena who was the President at that time.

This week, one of the suppliers who provided food for the security officers in the run up to the Presidential election has written to the President’s office complaining that he is still awaiting his payments. He says he has been a supplier of food from 2017 onwards. But, the unsettled bills were from November 1 to November 16, 2019.

He says he has been calling the accounts division from 2020 onwards, and was first told the delay was due to the COVID-19 situation, but since then he has not got a satisfactory response.

But it is the breakdown of the bills provided by the supplier which has drawn the attention. The daily bills amount to an average of Rs 250,000 with a total of Rs four million for the 16 days.