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MIG 29 deal is another fraud of the Rajapakse family- UNP ------ whether a Mercedes Benz is necessary to race a bullock cart
Wednesday, 23 May 2007 - 12:02 AM SL Time | | |
MIG 29 deal is another fraud of the Rajapakse family- UNP
(LeN-2007 May 22, 6.40pm) The United National Party says the MIG 29 deal that is about to take place might lead to a massive fraud as the statements made by the president and the defense secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse are contradicting each other.
The charges are being leveled against the government by head of the UNP media unit Lakshman Kiriella and UNP MP Sagala Rathnayake.
They say that the public wants to know who is lying. The UNP MPs point out that on the 22nd of March the defense secretary in a statement released to the defense web had said that the air force does not need the high tech MIG 29 air craft but last week when the president met the editors at temple trees he has said that the MIG 27 air craft should be gradually removed from usage and replace them with MIG 29. He has also said that this decision was not arrived at after the LTTE air strikes.
Addressing the media at the opposition leader?s office Kiriella questioned why tenders were not called in to purchase the MIG air craft. He said this is why they suspect that a massive fraud might be taking place behind the curtain.
He said according to a complaint lodged to the Bribery Commission by former ministers Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Suriarachchi a fraud of 600 million has taken place when purchasing the MIG 27`s one would not be able to even think what would the sum be this time around.
Sagala Rathnayake speaking here said that the Rajapakse brothers are paving their way for another massive scale fraud this time around through the MIG 29 deals.
Rathnayake revealed the details and specifications pertaining to the MIGs and the LTTE air craft. He said the LTTE air craft which are SLIM-Z- 143 light air craft could be used for things like taxi rides and primary security observations. The maximum speed of such an air craft would be 260 kilo meters. A MIG 29 could travel up to a maximum of 2,400 km. A light air craft could fly 4,000 m at the top most while a MIG could fly 18,000 meters high. A light air craft could rise 8 meters per second while a MIG could rise 330 meters per second.
Sagala Rathnayake questions whether a Mercedes Benz is necessary to race a bullock cart |
Source(s)
Rapa/LeN |
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