MR rejects Rs. 9.4 million breakfast bill

Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa today rejected the allegation made by the former UNP parliamentarian Nalin Bandara that the Rajapaksa family had ordered breakfast for over Rs. 9.4 million from The Hilton Hotel and not paid the bill, a statement from his office said. The full statement as follows: This was supposed to be the cost incurred for a single family meal. He had produced a document from the Hilton Hotel to prove the allegation and wanted to know why public funds had been spent on a family breakfast. This allegation has been given publicity by the media. The document Mr Bandara had produced was a pro-forma invoice dated 11 November 2013 to provide breakfast for 1400 guests at the rate of Rs. 5,200 per head during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) opening ceremony at the Nelum Pokuna on 15 November 2013. The total bill with the service charge and taxes amounts to over Rs. 9.4 million. The CHOGM 2013 opening ceremony was attended by Prince Charles and the heads of state or government of 53 nations. This was not a Rajapaksa family breakfast. It would be obvious to any rational person that Rs. 9.4 million could not possibly have been incurred on a family breakfast. This is very similar to the highly exaggerated allegations that we heard during the last presidential election. Obviously some quarters are trying to win the upcoming parliamentary election through false propaganda – the same way they won the January presidential election.