Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry refutes reports of ‘lavish spending’ for entertaining military heads

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence has refuted the media reports claiming that an outrageous sum of money has been spent in 2022 for entertaining military heads, who periodically arrive on inspection visits to the Defence Services and Staff College (DSCSC).

In a statement, the ministry emphasized that there is no truth to these speculations, and deemed them ‘false propaganda’.

“The DSCSC plays a unique role in imparting military officers of both Sri Lankan and foreign nations with combat tactics and advanced knowledge. Accordingly, 148 military officers including 25 military officers from foreign countries and 123 military officers from Sri Lanka participated in the DSCSC course held in 2022.”

The ministry explained that as per any other Defence Staff College in the Commonwealth Nations, the Defence Secretary, Chief of the Defence Staff and the Tri Forces Commanders conduct lectures every year on national security to student officers which is an integral part of this DSCSC course.

These lectures are done on separate occasions due to the nature of the duties and the practical issues of conducting the lectures on one occasion, the ministry clarified adding that such lectures were conducted on 5 separate occasions.

“It is a military norm for the Defence Secretary, Chief of Defence Staff or the Commanders of the Armed Forces to have refreshments at the conclusion of their lecture with the participants of about 200 personnel that may include student officers, directing and permanent staff members providing an opportunity to expand their knowledge.”

The ministry noted that such expenditures are not incurred only to host the Secretary of Defence, Chief of Defence Staff or the Tri Forces Commanders and such media reports may mislead public perception.

“Furthermore, the Ministry of Defence expresses its regret on such actions of certain media organizations working with the aim of damaging the public’s trust in the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces by irresponsibly expressing opinions about this incident without proper verification of facts,” the statement read further.