Several hundred million rupees given to the company in charge of Hambantota's bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games has gone missing, it has been revealed ©Hambantota 2018

There are calls in Sri Lanka for an official investigation to be held into Hambantota's unsuccessful bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games after it was revealed that hundreds of millions of rupees have never been accounted for.

The Parliament in Colombo heard that that more than LKR700 million (£3.5 million/$4.5 million/€4 million), including LKR200 million (£1 million/$1.3 million€1.1 million) from the Government, had been deposited in an account operated by CWG Hambantota 2018 Pvt. Ltd., a private company set up to bid for the Commonwealth Games. 

Sri Lanka's Public Enterprises Development Minister Kabir Hashim told Parliament that a large amount of money had been deposited by several State institutions and a number of private companies in the account but there was no record of how any of the money had been spent.

"State funds amounting to LKR190,387 million (£930,764/$1.2 million/€1 million) had been deposited in this account," Hashim told Members of Parliament, according to the Daily Mirror in Sri Lanka.

"It was difficult to obtain details of this account from the bank.

"This money had been used on foreign trips and safaris."

Hambantota were one of only two bidders for the 2018 Commonwealth Games but were defeated by the Gold Coast at the final vote in Saint Kitts and Nevis in November 2011 ©Hambantota 2018
Hambantota were one of only two bidders for the 2018 Commonwealth Games but were defeated by the Gold Coast at the final vote in Saint Kitts and Nevis in November 2011 ©Hambantota 2018

The money reportedly was used to help fund more than 160 people to travel to Saint Kitts and Nevis in November 2011 for the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly where the final vote was taken.

They were led by Sri Lanka's then Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and  Ajith Nivad Cabral, Governor of Sri Lanka's Central Bank.

The party who made the trip to the Caribbean also included actress Anarkali Akarsha and former Sri Lankan crickets Muttiah Muralitharan and Aravinda de Silva.

Hambantota was one of two bidders for the Games but lost 43-27 to its only rival, the Gold Coast. 

Nalinda Jayatissa, the MP who asked the question about the status of the money, has called for an official investigation.

Hashim claimed that a special Government commission would need to be established to find out what had happened to the money.