By Saman Indrajith The government and the Opposition had a heated exchange yesterday in Parliament over the state-owned helicopters placed at the disposal of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and an allegation that the Presidential Secretariat had not paid the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) for chopper rides. SJB MP Hesha Withanage asked why the Air Force continued to provide chopper rides to the President and his office at a time it has not been able to recover as much as Rs. 1 billion from several state institutions. He asked what those institutions were and how much they owed the SLAF. Minister Chamal Rajapaksa said that the 10 state institutions were Ministry of Upcountry New Villages, Estate Infrastructure & Community Development (Rs 595,570), Housing and Construction Ministry (Rs 836,165), Megapolis and Western Development Ministry (Rs 542,454), Ministry of Labour and Labour Relations (Rs 720,225), Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Ministry (Rs 75,690), Ports and Civil Aviation Ministry (Rs 416,002), Foreign Affairs Ministry (Rs 1,621,254), Presidential Secretariat (Rs 2,398,099), National Policies and Economic Affairs Ministry (Rs 1,314,166) and Prime Minister’s Office (Rs 541,777).