The Cabinet of Ministers has decided to release the report published by the Cabinet Committee appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena to investigate financial irregularities during the construction of the Sri Lanka Defence Headquarters Complex (DHQC) at Akuregoda, in a watershed moment for the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The Cabinet Committee was appointed in 2015 to probe into and make recommendations regarding the financial irregularities during the construction of the Akuregoda complex. The project was shelved following the Commission report. Information called for through the RTI, filed a few years ago by businessman Thirukumar Nadesan was initially not released by the Cabinet of Ministers and other concerned parties citing threats on national security.
The decision to release the full report was taken on Tuesday (2) when the appeal was taken up by the Right to Information Commission. During Tuesday’s appeal the Attorney General said there was no obstruction to release the information sought. The report is due to be released to RTI applicant Nadesan shortly.