Former President and Kurunegala District MP Mahinda Rajapaksa, adressng an election meeting at Ambalantota, said the Yahapalana regime used the Hambantota International Airport to store paddy.
Continuing, the former president said the farming community was pleased when the son of a farmer became the president of the country, because such a president would be a boon to their community, but what happened was quite the opposite; the farming community in the country lost all their privileges.
A large extent of paddy lands in the country currently remain barren and uncultivated, while the Yahapalana regime expects shipments of rice come from foreign countries, he said and queried from the audience whether those were the things that the people of the country expected from the son of a farmer. “President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe speak of a loan trap left behind by me. I do not deny the fact that I obtained loans from foreign countries; those who say so must travel around the country and witness the developments achieved utilising those loans,” he added.
The former president said Hambantota was where he was born and bred and as such, it was his bounden duty to develop it. In the same manner, President Maithripala Sirisena can develop the Polonnnaruwa district where he was born and bred, he said.
Former President Rajapaksa said the latest allegation against him was that he had not settled his debts to the independent television network ITN. He added that he has not signed an agreement of any nature with ITN and it was done by the relevant ministry.
“Another allegation directed against me is that I have not settled amounts due to the Ceylon Transport Board (CTB). The Yahapalana regime has taken steps to deprive me of my rights,” he said.
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