Sri Lanka, June 3 -- Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna National Organizer and Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa yesterday claimed that the government's decision to increase fuel prices was a direct result of mismanagement, corruption, and irregularities linked to coal imports and power generation.

Addressing the media in Nugegoda, Rajapaksa alleged that the use of low-quality and improperly handled coal imports had forced authorities to burn significantly more fuel for electricity generation, resulting in massive additional costs.

He claimed that losses linked to the coal imports had forced the country to use an additional 700,000 to 800,000 litres of fuel per day for power generation.

"In the past, governments were accused of commissions and ...