Lakshman Bandara Kiriella, MP (born 2 February 1948) is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n politician and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

. He is a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

from the

Kandy District Kandy District ( si, මහනුවර දිස්ත්‍රික්කය, ta, கண்டி மாவட்டம்) is a district of the Central Province of Sri Lanka. Its area is 1906.3 km². Administrative divisions Ethnic ...

, former Leader of the House of the parliament. Also he held office as Minister of Public Enterprises and Kandy Development and as Minister of Higher Education and Highways from 2015 to 2019. Educated at

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...

and

Sri Lanka Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

, he became a practicing lawyer before entering politics. He has elected to Parliament in 1989, he has been a Member ever since. He has served as the Minister of Tourism and Sports and the Deputy minister of Foreign Affairs. In 2015 he was appointed as the Leader of the House of the United National Party Government under Prime Minister

Ranil Wickramasinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe ( si, රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, ta, ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka since 21 July 2 ...

. He is married to Charmaine Jayawardena and they have two daughters, Kishanee and Chami, and one son, Dinuk L. B. In October 2018 the

Asgiriya Chapter Asgiri Maha Viharaya (also called Asgiriya temple, Asgiriya Gedige) is a Buddhist monastery located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is the headquarters of the Asgiriya chapter of Siyam Nikaya, one of the two Buddhist monasteries that holds the custodian ...

Siam Nikaya The Siam (also Siyamopali and Siyam) Nikaya is a monastic order within Sri Lankan Buddhism, founded by Upali Thera and located predominantly around the city of Kandy. It is so named because it originated within Thailand (formerly known in Sri Lan ...

conferred the title of Shasanamamaka Jana Prasadini on Kiriella, in recognition of his service to Buddhism and society.

Controversies

Central Expressway Construction

Central expressway of Sri Lanka (E04 expressway) planned to construct in four phases to link

Kadawatha Kadawatha (or Kadawata) ( si, කඩවත ta, கடவத) is a large suburb of Colombo, in the Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is situated on the A1 highway, approximately away from the centre of Colombo. Industrial machines, factories, di ...

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

. However, the construction of phase one and phase three were delayed as Chinese and Japanese loans weren't receiving on time. Phase two of the project (

Mirigama Mirigama (also spelled Meerigama) ( si, මීරිගම; ta, மீரிகம) is a town in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka. It is located from Colombo, and from Negombo. Mirigama is the hometown of Sri Lanka's first Prime Minister, D. S. Sen ...

Katugastota Katugastota ( Sinhala: කටුගස්තොට, Tamil: கடுகஸ்தொட) is a suburb of the city of Kandy in Kandy District, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It is located along the Kandy-Jaffna A9 highway approximately from the ...

) funded by the Sri Lankan government and construction carrying out by local constructors. There are some allegations that phase two construction carrying out by companies attached to Kiriella.

COPE The cope (known in Latin as ''pluviale'' 'rain coat' or ''cappa'' 'cape') is a liturgical vestment, more precisely a long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colours, litu ...

decided to investigate tender procedure of central expressway project due to allegations of misappropriation of public funds. And MP.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake Anura may refer to: Biology * Anura (frog), the order for frogs * ''Anura'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family People Anura is a common given name in Sri Lanka * Anura Bandaranaike (1949–2008), Sri Lankan politician * An ...

mentioned in parliament recalling a statement by former president

Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena ( si, පල්ලෙවත්‍ත ගමරාළලාගේ මෛත්‍රීපාල යාපා සිරිසේන; ta, பல்லேவத்த கமராளலாகே மைத்திரி� ...

that tender procedures has been violated while offering contracts. Responding to media, minister of parliament

Wimal Weerawansa Weerasangilige Wimal Weerawansa (born 7 March 1970) is a Sri Lankan politician, Member of Parliament and current leader of the National Freedom Front (NFF). Weerawansa has served many cabinet positions, including Minister of Industries from 2020 ...

blamed that former minister Kiriella and his daughter converted central expressway project into their money making venture.

Recruiting Political Supporters to RDA

Presidential Commission of Inquiry A Presidential Commission of Inquiry is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue ordered by the President of Sri Lanka to report findings, give advice and make recommendations. Types Two types of inquiries can be commissioned; * ...

(PCoI) probing corruption in good governance (Yahapalana ) government conducted inquiry on backdoor appointments given by former minister to UNP supporters. He was accused for recruiting UMP members as public liaison officers and consultants to the

Road Development Authority The Road Development Authority (commonly abbreviated as RDA); ( si, මාර්ග සංවර්ධන අධිකාරිය; ta, வீதி அபிவிருத்தி அதிகார சபை) is the premier highway authority ...

(RDA) without conducting interviews, checking qualifications and assigning duties. Former minister denied allegations that those recruitments cost Rs. 62.87 million to government.

References

External links

Biographies of Member of Parliament
Sports ministers of Sri Lanka Samagi Jana Balawegaya politicians United National Party politicians Sri Lankan Buddhists Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of Sri Lanka Law College Members of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka Living people 1948 births Higher education ministers of Sri Lanka Sinhalese politicians {{CentralLK-politician-stub