COLOMBO, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government will take strict actions to regulate the national airline to cut its huge loss and prevent corrutpion.
Minister of Public Enterprise Development Kabir Hashim said that actions must be taken against some former and current officials of Srilankan Airlines based on a report of a committee headed by ant-corruption lawyer J.C. Weliamuna.
"There was a mafia in Srilankan. It is still there. It needs to be cleaned. I think the Weliamuna Report has its merits and it needs to be implemented," the minister said.
Hashim said while the airline was operating at a huge loss when the former government was in power, it is now seeing a reduction of losses.
"We have taken steps to revive the airline. We are following the proper procedure to do this," the minister said.
Hashim said the government had cancelled orders signed by the previous administration for four new A-350 aircraft which were scheduled to be delivered this year.
The government will also cancel another order of four A-350 aircraft scheduled to be delivered in 2020, he said.
Hashim said investigations had been launched on fraudulent deals on A-350 aircraft made by the former government.
