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Parliament told MR wrote to Bush pushing for MCC
08 Oct, 2020
Parliament was informed today that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, when he was President, had written to then US President George W. Bush requesting for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact.
Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Parliamentarian Dr. Harsha de Silva displayed a copy of the letter in Parliament today.
Dr. Harsha de Silva said that current State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal had also pushed for the MCC.
He said that when then President Rajapaksa found that the MCC was facing a technical issue he wrote to then US President George W. Bush seeking his intervention to clear the matter.
Speaking on international agreements reached between Sri Lanka and other countries in Parliament today, Dr. Harsha de Silva said that the public are being misled on some international agreements.
He said that a false narrative is being spread in Sri Lanka on the Millennium Challenge Corporation compact.
Dr. Harsha de Silva reiterated that all agreements have an exit clause.
He also said that despite all the claims made with regards to the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) agreement with the US, the current Government has not withdrawn from the agreement.
The Board of Directors of the Millennium Challenge Corporation had approved a five-year, $480 million Compact with the Government of Sri Lanka aimed at reducing poverty through economic growth.
The Compact seeks to assist the Sri Lankan Government in addressing two of the country?s binding constraints to economic growth: (1) inadequate transport logistics infrastructure and planning; and (2) lack of access to land for agriculture, the services sector, and industrial investors. (Colombo Gazette)
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