In the wake of the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) and the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) preparing to summon it to inquire about alleged financial irregularities, the Milco Private Limited (Milco) stated that it had rectified all forms of shortcomings and irregularities within the organisation, and that all relevant financial reports had been prepared as of now.

During a recent meeting with trade unions within the Milco, Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that although many State institutions had been summoned before Parliamentary Committees such as the COPA and the COPE, Milco had never been summoned before, and that an audit had not been conducted on it so far.

When contacted by The Daily Morning to inquire about the matter, the Milco Chairman, Renuka Perera said that he, since his appointment as the Chairman, had taken several steps to rectify various forms of shortcomings and financial irregularities within the organisation, so that it had become a profit making institution at present. “I don’t know what exactly the trade union representatives have claimed during this discussion. However, I have come to know that there have been discussions about certain issues within the organisation that date back to 2018. I became the Chairman in January, 2022. Since then, I have been working to eliminate corruption and irregularities during these 18 months.” Speaking further, he said that Milco had already finalised the preparation of financial statements pertaining to the years 2018-2022. “We have forwarded some of those statements to the Auditor General (AG), and the rest will also be forwarded to him soon. When they are approved by the AG, we will be submitting them to the Parliament in the coming days,” he added.

Amaraweera had recently had a discussion with the representatives of the trade unions within the Milco, during which they had pointed out that many acts of corruption and irregularities were taking place there. Claiming that the Milco was not carrying out its due responsibility towards the people and is incurring a huge sum of money due to such acts, the trade union representatives had requested that a complete audit be conducted on the Milco as soon as possible.