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Serious lapses of Geological Survey and Mines Bureau exposed by COPE
The Island
|September 18, 2025
A recent COPE inquiry has revealed the failure of the Geological Survey & Mines Bureau (GSMB) to collect state royalty.
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This was disclosed during the Committee's inquiry into the Auditor General's reports for the years 2022 and 2023 of the GSMB and its current performance under the chairmanship of Dr. Nishantha Samaraweera on 2025.09.12 in Parliament.
It was also disclosed that the GSMB had issued a mining licence from December 2023 to September 2024 to a private company for sand removal at the Mukkutoduwawa Estate in Puttalam District belonging to Chilaw Plantations Ltd. Although the contractor had removed 36,531 to 45,561 cubic metres of sand, royalty had been paid only for 1,594 cubic metres, amounting to Rs. 686,464. The Auditor General pointed this out, based on the report of the GSMB Technical Services (Pvt) Ltd dated 19 December 2024 estimating the sand removed. Accordingly, it was pointed out by the Committee that a royalty of over Rs. 12 million had been lost.
This story is from the September 18, 2025 edition of The Island.
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