The government’s decision to turn down a loan from Japan for a light rail project in the hopes of profiting from commissions is risky, according to lawmaker Patali Champika Ranawaka.

“They denied a loan we got from Japan with a 0.1 percent interest rate. “Japan has not gotten us into some kind of debt trap,” Ranawaka, a parliamentarian for Samagi Jana Balawegaya, said on Friday.

He said that the government turned down the loan because they wanted to start a project begun by the previous administration while also looting public funds.

Under the previous administration, the current government had rejected the project, arguing that it would have an adverse impact on paddy fields, according to Ranawaka.

He noted, “They are now preparing to build the same project over the same paddy fields.”