MCC agreement to be studied

• President appoints Committee to study document  
• Govt. says no decision to sign it yet 

The agreement with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for a $480 million grant will be studied by a Committee and a report submitted to Cabinet, a top official said yesterday.    

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a Committee to study the MCC, Education, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Dullas Alahapperuma told reporters.   

Speaking at the weekly Cabinet briefing, he said the Committee is to be headed by former Secretary to the Ministry of Transport, Dr. Lalithasiri Gunaruwan. 

Alahapperuma argued that their objection to the MCC agreement was based on its lack of transparency, and insisted that the previous administration headed by former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had not given them access to the document, despite repeated requests for it to be submitted to Parliament or another public forum. 

“We wanted the public to see the agreement and understand what they were getting into. That was what we wanted, and now we have the opportunity to look into this and arrive at an informed decision,” he said. Responding to a question on whether the Government would sign the agreement, he said that there was no decision to sign it in the near future.