In a heated cabinet briefing, Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa publicly corrected Deputy Minister Mahinda Jayasinghe over claims of a looming oil shortage. Amid public fears and fuel hoarding, Nalinda assured that Sri Lanka has enough oil reserves to last over two months, backing up statements by Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody and CPC officials.
Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa says that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody have made correct statements to the country regarding the country’s oil reserves, and that he, as the Cabinet Media Spokesperson, has also made correct statements to the country.
He stated this when journalists questioned Deputy Minister Mahinda Jayasinghe at the Cabinet Media Briefing today (02) about a statement made by him that there were no facilities to store oil in the country for two months.
“I am not the Cabinet Media Spokesperson. The Oil Corporation knows about the oil storage facilities. The Chairman of the Oil Corporation expressed his views on this. Kumara Jayakody, as the Minister in charge of the Oil Corporation, made a statement on this. As the Government Media Spokesperson, I said this. At the time of your inquiry, there were oil reserves for almost two and a half months. The people of the country were wondering at that time whether the oil would run out. The people started collecting oil in barrels. Now it is over. We have oil, almost two months. We are sure of that.”
