Thursday, May 14, 2015
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
මෙහෙමත් පළිගැනීමක්
මව්බිම පුවත්පතින්
"විරුද්ධවාදීන්ගෙන් මේ තරම්
පළිගන්නා කාලයක් මම දැක නැහැ..."
මෙහෙම කියන්නේ වෙන කවුරුවත් නොව මහින්දය. මහින්ද මෙහෙම කීවේ පහුගිය ඉරිදා පල්ලෙකැලේදීය. දේශපාලනඥයන් බොහොමයක් අමතක වීමේ රෝගය නොහොත් ඩිමෙන්ෂියා රෝගයෙන් පෙළෙන බව රනිල් අගමැති වූ විගස ඉන්දියාවේ දමිළ රූපවාහිනි මාධ්යයකට දුන් සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාවකදී පවසා තිබිණි. මහින්දත් ඒ රෝගයෙන් පෙළෙනවාද කියන්න දන්නේ නැත. එම නිසා මහින්දට මහින්දගේ අතීතය මතක් කර දීම මේ වෙලාවේ වැදගත්ය.
මෙහෙම කියන්නේ වෙන කවුරුවත් නොව මහින්දය. මහින්ද මෙහෙම කීවේ පහුගිය ඉරිදා පල්ලෙකැලේදීය. දේශපාලනඥයන් බොහොමයක් අමතක වීමේ රෝගය නොහොත් ඩිමෙන්ෂියා රෝගයෙන් පෙළෙන බව රනිල් අගමැති වූ විගස ඉන්දියාවේ දමිළ රූපවාහිනි මාධ්යයකට දුන් සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාවකදී පවසා තිබිණි. මහින්දත් ඒ රෝගයෙන් පෙළෙනවාද කියන්න දන්නේ නැත. එම නිසා මහින්දට මහින්දගේ අතීතය මතක් කර දීම මේ වෙලාවේ වැදගත්ය.
මහින්ද ජනාධිපති වී පළමුවෙන්ම පළිගත්තේ ඔහුට ඇමැතිකමක් දුන්, ඔහුව විපක්ෂ නායක, අගමැති සහ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක කරපු චන්ද්රිකාගෙන්ය. චන්ද්රිකාගේ 2006 උපන් දිනයේ දවසේ ඇයව පක්ෂ සභාපති පදවියෙන් ඉවත් කරන ලිපිය ඇය අතට පත් කරනු ලැබීය. ඇයගේ ආරක්ෂාව හතර දෙනකුට සීමා කරනු ලැබීය. ඇය දිගු කලක් විදේශගත වී සිය දියණියගේ විවාහ මංගල උත්සවය ලංකාවේ සමරන්න සූදානම් කළ දිනයේ ඇයගේ නිල නිවෙසේ කාර්යාලයේ භාණ්ඩ එළියට ඇද දමා එය රජයට භාර දෙන්න නියෝග දෙනු ලැබීය. ඒ වෙලාවේ ඇය සිටියේ දියණියගේ සාදයට සූදානම් වෙමින්ය. එය දැන දැනම නියෝගය දුන්නේ එදාය.
මහින්ද 2005 ජනාධිපති වී මහින්ද විරෝධී ස්ථාවරයක සිටි සන්ඩේ ලීඩර් පුවත්පතේ සිංහල පුවත්පත වූ ඉරුදිනෙන්ද පළිගනු ලැබීය. 2006 පෙබරවාරි 4 නිදහස් දිනයට දින දෙක තුනකට පෙර කොළඹ තැන් කිහිපයක සිදුවූ බෝම්බ පිපිරීම්වලට එවකට ඉරුදින පුවත්පතේ හිමිකරු පසන් මදනායක සම්බන්ධ යැයි කියා චෝදනා කොට කොළඹ අපරාධ අංශය ඔහුගෙන් ඒ ගැන ප්රශ්න කරනු ලැබීය. ඔහුව ත්රස්තවාදියකු ලෙස හංවඩු ගසා ඔහු ලීඩර් පුවත්පත් ආයතනයට මුදල් වැය කිරීම නතර කිරීම මහින්දගේ ආණ්ඩුවේ පළමු මෙහෙයුම විය. ඉන්පසු ඉරුදින පුවත්පත මෙන්ම සන්ඩේ ලීඩර් පුවත්පතද වසා දමනු ඇතැයි ආණ්ඩුව ගණන් හැදීය.
මංගල සහ ශ්රී පති ඇමැති ධුරවලින් ඉවත් කිරීමෙන් පසු මහින්දට එල්ල කළ චෝදනාවක් වූයේ 2005 ජනාධිපතිවරණය දිනන්න එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ.යට සල්ලි දුන්නාය කියන චෝදනාවය. එම චෝදනාව ඉදිරිපත් වූ විගස මහින්දගේ ආණ්ඩුව ශ්රී පතිව අත්අඩංගුවට ගත්තේය. 2007 මාර්තු 17 ශ්රී පතිව අත්අඩංගුවට ගනු ලැබුවේ තැපැල් සහ විදුලි සන්දේශ අමාත්යාංශයේ වාහනයක් අයුතු ලෙස භාවිත කිරීමේ චෝදනාව මතය. ඔහුව අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීමේ මූලික අරමුණ එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ. ගනුදෙනු චෝදනාව යටපත් කොට මංගල සහ ශ්රී පතිව නිහඬ කිරීමය.
එකල එ.ජා.ප. පළාත් සභා මන්ත්රිවරයකුව සිටි දුමින්ද සිල්වාගේ සහෝදරයාට අයත් මහින්දගේ ආණ්ඩුව දැඩි ලෙස විවේචනය කළ හිරු මාධ්ය ජාලය මහින්දගේ ආණ්ඩුව 2007 ඔක්තෝබර් 28 තහනම් කරනු ලැබීය. හිරු මාධ්ය ජාලයට අයත් ගුවන් විදුලි නාළිකා 5ක් තහනම් විය. වැරැදි පුවතක් විකාශය කළා යැයි කියා තහනම් කරනු ලැබුවද යටි අරමුණ විපක්ෂයට හිතවත් හිරු මාධ්ය ජාලය මෙල්ල කර ගැනීමය. දුමින්ද සිල්වා මහින්දට එක් වීමෙන් පසු හිරු මාධ්ය ජාලයට පනවා තිබූ තහනම ඉවත් කරනු ලැබීය.
2007 ඔක්තෝබර් 24 ඇමැතිවරයකුට එරෙහිව වැරැදි පුවතක් වාර්තා කළාය කියා සන්ඩේ ලීඩර් පුවත්පතේ මාධ්යවේදී ආතර් වාමනන් අත්අඩංගුවට ගනු ලැබීය. හරියටම එයට මාසයකට පසු මහින්දගේ ආණ්ඩුව දැඩි ලෙස විවේචනය කළ සන්ඩේ ලීඩර් සහ ඉරුදින පුවත්පත් මුද්රණය කළ මුද්රණාලයට මහ රෑ මැරයන් පිරිසක් ගිනි තබන ලදී. එම ගිනි තැබීම සාධාරණීයකරණයට ලක් කරමින් ප්රකාශ නිකුත් කළ මහින්දගේ ආණ්ඩුව මැරයන් අත්අඩංගුවට ගත්තේ හෝ පරීක්ෂණයක් සිදු කළේ නැත.
2008 උතුරු මැද පළාත් සභා මැතිවරණයට එ.ජා.ප. මහ ඇමැති අපේක්ෂක ලෙස ජානක පෙරේරා ඉදිරිපත් වීම ගැන මහින්දගේ ආණ්ඩුව හිටියේ තරහිනි. ඔහු හිටපු හමුදා ප්රධානියෙක් ලෙස එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ.යෙන් තර්ජන ඇති නිසා තමාට ආරක්ෂාව දෙන්න යැයි ඉල්ලා සිටි විට ඔහුට ආරක්ෂාව දීම මහින්දගේ ආණ්ඩුව ප්රතික්ෂේප කළේය. අවසානයේ ඔහුට ආරක්ෂාව ඉල්ලා අධිකරණයට යෑමට සිදු විය. ඔහු ඝාතනය වුණේත් ප්රමාණවත් ආරක්ෂාවක් ලබා නොදුන් නිසාය.
2009 ජනවාරි 07 වැනි දින මහින්දගේ ආණ්ඩුවේ වැරැදි විවේචනය කළ සිරස මාධ්ය ජාලය නන්නාඳුනන මැර පිරිසක් විසින් ගිනිබත් කරනු ලැබීය. සිරස විකාශනාගාරය ගිනිබත් කොට කරනු ලැබූ පාඩුව මිල කළ නොහැකි විය. මෙම ප්රහාරයට පෙර මහින්දගේ පෝ දින බණ සිරසෙන් විකාශය කිරීම නතර කරන්න යැයි දේශප්රේමීහු මහින්දගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටියහ. මහින්ද ඒ ඉල්ලීම ඉටු කළේය. දින දෙක තුනකින් සිරස ගිනිබත් විය.
2009 ජනවාරි 8 ආණ්ඩුවේ ප්රධාන විවේචකයකු වූ මාධ්යවේදී ලසන්ත වික්රමතුංග අමු අමුවේ ඝාතනය කරනු ලැබීය. ආණ්ඩුව නිසි පරීක්ෂණයක් කළේ නැත. මහින්දගේ ආණ්ඩුවේ මර්දනයට එරෙහිව නිදහස් මාධ්යයක් සඳහා සටන් කළ මාධ්යවේදී පෝද්දල ජයන්තට මැරයන් පිරිසක් විසින් අමානුෂික ලෙස පහර දෙනු ලැබීය. ප්රගීත් එක්නැලිගොඩ අතුරුදන් වූයේ 2010දීය. ඒ වගේම 2009 අග වෝටර්ස් එජ් ඉඩම සම්බන්ධයෙන් චන්ද්රිකාට නඩු පවරා ඇයව දඩ මුදලකට යටත් කරන ලදී.
2010 ජනාධිපතිවරණයට හිටපු හමුදාපති ෆොන්සේකා ඉදිරිපත් වූ විට මහින්දගේ ආණ්ඩුව ඔහු සමඟ වෛරයෙන් ඔහුගේ ආරක්ෂාව ඉවත් කළේය. 2010 ජනාධිපතිවරණ ප්රතිඵල නිකුත් වෙද්දී ඔහු සිටි හෝටලය වට කොට ඔහුගේ ආධාරකරුවන් අත්අඩංගුවට ගනු ලැබීය. 2010 ජනාධිපතිවරණය කොල්ලයක් යැයි කියමින් ඔහු රට වටා යද්දී කිසිදු චෝදනාවක් නැතිව ඔහුව අත්අඩංගුවට ගනු ලැබීය. චෝදනා නොමැතිව අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම ඔහු ප්රතික්ෂේප කළ විට ඔහුට බලෙන් මාංචු දමා බල්ලෙක් සේ ඔහුව ඇදගෙන යනු ලැබීය. ඔහුට නඩු පිට නඩු පවරා ඔහුගේ විශ්රාම වැටුපද, ඔහුට හිමි තරු සහ පදක්කම්ද ඔහුට අහිමි කොට ඔහුගේ නම ඉතිහාස පොතෙන් ඉවත් කර දැම්මේය. ඔහුට හිමි මන්ත්රි ධුරයද අහිමි කිරීමෙන් නොනැවතී ඔහුගේ නිදහස වෙනුවෙන් සටන් කළ බිරිය අනෝමාට එරෙහිවත් දූෂණ චෝදනා ගොනු කරන්න ඇය සභාපතිව සිටි සේවා වනිතා ඒකකය තුළ විමර්ශනයක් කරනු ලැබීය. ෆොන්සේකාව නිදහස් කරගන්න එ.ජා.ප.ය ඇතුළු පොදු විපක්ෂය කොළඹ සංවිධානය කළ රැස්වීමකට ආණ්ඩුවේ මැරයෝ දමා පහර දුන්හ. විපක්ෂ මන්ත්රිවරුන්ගේ වාහන ගල් ගසා කුඩුපට්ටම් කරනු ලැබීය. සමහරුන්ට තුවාලද සිදු විය. පසුව ෆොන්සේකාට සමාව දුන්නේ ප්රජා අයිතිය නැතිවය.
2011 නොවැම්බර් 21 වැනි දින මහින්ද අය - වැය ඉදිරිපත් කරන විටදී බාධා කළා යැයි කියා මහින්ද අය - වැය ඉදිරිපත් කරන අතරතුරදීම විපක්ෂ මන්ත්රිවරුන්ට වතුර බෝතල්වලින් පහර දෙනු ලැබීය. ඇතැම් විපක්ෂ මන්ත්රිවරුන්ට බිම දමාගෙන ආණ්ඩුවේ ඇමැතිවරු පහර දුන්හ. ජයලත් ජයවර්ධන සහ එකල පක්ෂ මහ ලේකම් තිස්ස අත්තනායක සභා ගැබට ඇතුළු වෙද්දී ඔවුන් අතේ තිබුණු ලියකියවිලි ආරක්ෂක අංශ විසින් අත්අඩංගුවට ගනු ලැබීය. ඒ වගේම වරක් ජයලත් ජයවර්ධනට ලොබියේදී ආණ්ඩුවේ මැති ඇමැතිවරු වටකරගෙන පහර දුන්හ. එදා එ.ජා.ප. මන්ත්රිවරුන්ට ජ.වි.පෙ. මන්ත්රිවරුන්ට පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තුළ උද්ඝෝෂණ කිරීම මැර බලය යොදවා සභා ගැබේදීම තහනම් කළේ එලෙසය. බැරි වෙලාවත් 19 සම්මත කිරීමට පෙර සතියේ වගේ එදා එ.ජා.ප. මන්ත්රිවරුන් මහ රෑ පාර්ලිමේන්තු සභා ගැබේ නිදියගෙන ජෝගි නැටුවා නම් වෙන්න තිබුණේ කුමක්දැයි සිතා ගත නොහැකිය.
බැසිල්ගේ දිවි නැඟුම පනතට එරෙහිව හිටපු අගවිනිසුරු ශිරාණි බණ්ඩාරනායක තීන්දුවක් දුන්නාය කියා ආණ්ඩුව ඇයට එරෙහිව බොරු චෝදනා ගොනු කොට දෝෂාභියෝගයක් ගෙන එනු ලැබීය. දෝෂාභියෝග තේරීම් කාරක සභාවේදී ඇයට පරුෂ වචනවලින් බනිනු ලැබීය. දෝෂාභියෝග ක්රියාවලිය නීති විරෝධී යැයි අධිකරණය කියද්දී ඇයව බය කොට, තර්ජන එල්ල කොට අගවිනිසුරු ධුරයෙන් ඉවත් කරනු ලැබීය. ඇයට අලුත්කඩේ නිල කාර්යාලයට ගොස් ඇයගේ බඩු භාණ්ඩ රැගෙන යෑමටවත් ඉඩ නොදී අධිකරණ භූමියේ ආරක්ෂක දැලක් එළීය. එයින් විනිසුරුවන්ද බියට පත් කරනු ලැබීය. දෝෂාභියෝගයට එරෙහිව සටන් කළ විජේදාස රාජපක්ෂගේ නිවෙසට බෝම්බ ගසනු ලැබීය. ඇය වෙනුවෙන් සටන් කළ නීතිඥ වන්නිනායකට මරණ තර්ජන එල්ල කරනු ලැබීය. ඇයගේ විශ්රාම වැටුපද ඇයට අහිමි කොට දෝෂාභියෝගය සම්මත වූ දිනයේ ඇයගේ නිල නිවෙස ඉදිරිපිට ඇමැතිවරු රැස්වී කිරිබත් කා ඇයට පරුෂ වචනයෙන් බැනවදිමින් රතිඤ්ඤා පත්තු කළහ.
අගවිනිසුරු ධුරය අහිමි කළ පසු ඇයව සතියකට වතාවක්වත් අල්ලස් කොමිසමට ගෙන්වීය. එලෙස ගෙන්වූයේ සමහර දිනවල ඇයගේ උපන් දිනය දවසේය. තවත් සමහර දිනවල ඇයගේ පුතා විභාගවලට යන දිනය වැනි ඇයගේ පවුලට තීරණාත්මක දිනවලය.
ඉන්පසු හම්බන්තොට වරාය සහ
ගුවන්තොටුපොළ නිරීක්ෂණයට ගිය එ.ජා.ප. මන්ත්රිවරුන්ට මැර ප්රහාර එල්ල කරනු ලැබීය.
වරාය අධිකාරියට අයත් කාර්යාලයකට ගිය මන්ත්රිවරුන්ටත් මැර ප්රහාර එල්ල කරනු
ලැබීය.
ඒ වගේම ජාතිවාදී ප්රකාශ කළා කියා අසාද් සාලි පළාත් සභා මන්ත්රිව අත්අඩංගුවට ගනු ලැබීය. මහින්ද විපක්ෂයේ චෝදනා තිබෙන මන්ත්රිවරුන්ව අත්අඩංගුවට ගත්තේ නැත. ඔවුන්ට එරෙහිව චෝදනා තියෙන ෆයිල් ජනාධිපති මන්දිරයට ගෙන්වා ගෙන ඔවුන්ව අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්නා බවට තර්ජනය කරලා ආණ්ඩුවට එක්කරගෙන විපක්ෂය දුර්වල කළේය. 2007 ඔහු එ.ජා.ප.යෙන් ගත් මන්ත්රි 17න් බොහොමයකටද, 2011දී 18 වැනි ව්යවස්ථාව සම්මත කරගන්න තුනෙන් දෙක හදා ගන්න එජාපයෙන් ගත් සමහර මන්ත්රිවරුන්ටද විවිධ චෝදනා එල්ල වී තිබිණි. මහින්ද ඒ චෝදනා පෙන්වා බය කරල ඔවුන්ව ආණ්ඩුවට ගත්තේය. මෙවර ජනාධිපතිවරණයේදීත් ඔහු කිව්වේ ආණ්ඩුවෙන් යන ඇමැතිවරුන්, ඉන්න ඇමැතිවරුන් ගැන ෆයිල් තමන් ළඟ ඇති බවය. ඔහු ඒ ෆයිල්වලින් ඇමැතිවරු බය කරගෙන තියා ගත්තේය. මෛත්රි - රනිල් ආණ්ඩුව කරන්නේ එම ෆයිල් පොලිසියට සහ අධිකරණයට භාර දීමය. පළිගැනීමේ වෙනස ඒකය.
මෛත්රිපාල සිරිසේන පහුගිය ජනාධිපතිවරණයේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂකයා වූ විගස මහින්දගේ ආණ්ඩුව මෛත්රිපාලගේ සහෝදරයකු වූ කුමාරසිංහ සිරිසේන සේවය කළ රාජ්ය දැව සංස්ථාවට සීල් තබනු ලැබීය. ඔහු එහි කළමනාකාර අධ්යක්ෂ විය. දින දෙකකට පසු ඔහුව සේවයෙන් ඉවත් කළ බව දන්වමින් දැව සංස්ථා සභාපතිගෙන් ඔහුට ලිපියක් ලැබිණි. එසේම මෛත්රිගේ සහෝදරයන්ගේ ව්යාපාරවලටද බාධා කරනු ලැබීය.
මෛත්රි ජනාධිපතිවරණය දිනල රටටම ඇහෙන්න කීවේ තමන් පරාජය වූවා නම් තමන් අද ඉන්නේ පොළොවෙන් අඩි 6ක් යට වළක කියාය. මහින්ද 2010 ජනාධිපතිවරණය දිනල කීවේ ෆොන්සේකා දින්නා නම් තමන් සහ මල්ලි ගෝඨා හිරේ කියාය. එහෙම කියල ඔහු ෆොන්සේකාවයි, ඔහුගේ ආධාරකරුවන්වයි හිරේට දැම්මේය. හැබැයි මෛත්රි අද වන තෙක් මහින්දට අත තියලා නැත. පළිගැනීමේ වෙනස ඒකය.
මහින්දගේ ආණ්ඩුව පන්න පන්නා පළිගත් කිසිවකුටත් අධිකරණයෙන් ජයග්රහණයක් හිමි නොවීය. හොඳම නිදසුන ෆොන්සේකාය. චෝදනා නොමැතිව අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන නඩු පිට නඩු පටවපු ෆොන්සේකා අධිකරණය ඉදිරියට ගියත් ඔහුට පක්ෂව තීන්දු ලැබුණේ නැත. එදා ෆොන්සේකා වෙනුවෙන් කතා කළේ කීර්තිමත් නීතිඥ රොමේෂ් සිල්වාය. අද ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂව අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම වළක්වන නඩුවට කතා කරන්නේත් රොමේෂ් සිල්වා නම් වූ ඒ කීර්තිමත් නීතිඥයාය. එදා ඔහුට ෆොන්සේකාව නිදහස් කරගන්න බැරි වුණත් අද ඔහුට ගෝඨාභයව අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම වළක්වන තහනම් නියෝගයක් අධිකරණයෙන් ගන්න පුළුවන් වී ඇත. මහින්දගේ කාලයේ පළිගැනීම් සහ මෛත්රි-රනිල්ගේ ආණ්ඩුවේ පළිගැනීම් අතර ලොකුම වෙනස ඒකය.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Kandy’s Sinister Diyawadana Nilame
Link:-
2012http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2012/02/12/kandys-sinister-diyawadana-nilame/
Diyawadana Nilame of the Temple of the Tooth, Pradeep
Nilanga Dela Bandara has come under severe criticism for draining colossal sums
of money from temple funds since his election to office in 2005.
His Personal Assistant, Nihal Ferdinando was sacked from
office on January 5, 2011 following his (Ferdinando’s) request to Dela Bandara
to stop engaging in fraudulent activities and thus disgracing his post.
When contacted, Ferdinando confirmed to The Sunday Leader
that he had been sacked last year because of the warnings he had given to Dela
Bandara.
“Seeing Dela Bandara misusing Temple funds and its properties
as his personal assets I warned him not to engage in illegal businesses.
Instead of listening to me he sacked me immediately,” Ferdinando said.
Asked if it was true that Dela Bandara got the buffers and
the four door handles of his Mini John Cooper car gold plated, Ferdinando said
yes and that Dela Bandara had used the Maligawa gold for it.
“The car was brought down from the UK and he got it
assembled at his official residence which is behind the Temple of the Tooth. A
British Motor Mechanical Engineer Mr. Brown came down to Sri Lanka to assemble
the car while Rohith de Silva a Sri Lankan racing car driver living in the UK
was also brought down using Maligawa funds,” he said.
According to Ferdinando, the car was assembled and gold
plated in time for him to use it for his honeymoon in 2010.
“The British Engineer and the Sri Lankan race driver lodged
at Dela Bandara’s official residence for two months and a painter was specially
hired from Ratnapura to gold plate the two buffers and the door handles,” Ferdinando
said.
The Sunday Leader is in possession of two documents signed
by the Diyawadana Nilame to sell two plots of land that belonged to the Temple
of the Tooth – Udagedarawatte and Polgodahena, to two companies namely,
Commercial Credit and Prime Lands (Pvt) Ltd.
According to the documents, the Udagedarawatte land in
Peradeniya is two and a half acres in extent and the Polgodahena land in Megoda
Kalugamuwa is one acre, one hundred and twenty nine perches in extent.
Prime Lands (Pvt) Ltd, in turn re-sold this land at a later
date to 29 parties. Dinusha Fernando,
Legal Officer for Prime Lands confirmed to The Sunday Leader that they resold
the Udagedarawatte land situated in Peradeniya but refused to disclose the name
of the original seller.
Dela Bandara has also been accused of obtaining money from
18 companies for the annual Esala Pageant held last year. An official from the
Temple of the Tooth speaking on condition of anonymity said it was pathetic to
note how the custodian of the Temple of the Tooth went begging from public and
private companies to conduct the pageant
“He requested funds from the People’s Bank, Bank of Ceylon,
National Savings Bank, Economic Development Ministry, Dialog
Telecommunications, Maliban, NOLIMIT and Laugfs Gas to name a few. According to
the Esala Perahera Trust, it is illegal to obtain money for the pageant; but
last year Dela Bandara went after these institutions begging for funds as the
temple coffers have run dry for the first time ever,” he said
NOLIMIT confirmed to The Sunday Leader that the Kandy
Diyawadana Nilame had made a request for funds to hold the pageant for which
they contributed over Rs.1 million. “For the past two years we have been
approached for funding,” an accountant at NOLIMIT said.
Refuting all allegations, Diyawadana Nilame Dela Bandara
said he had not sold any lands belonging to the Temple of the Tooth.
“There are two types of lands which belong to the Temple.
One is Bandara lands which belong solely
to the temple and cannot be transferred to anyone. The other is Rajakaree lands
given to those who provide their services to the temple, for example, a drummer
or a dancer etc., These Rajakaree lands can be sold to any party by the person
who occupies the land on condition that the buyer in turn provides a service to
the temple, failing which it could be taken back by the temple. It is these
lands that are now being disputed, where two respective parties attempted to
block the lands and sell them without our knowledge. I immediately informed the
Buddhist Affairs Commissioner and stopped them from being sold and requested
the parties to deposit the monies in our account as security, in the event the
people who buy the lands fail to provide their service to the temple,” Dela
Bandara told The Sunday Leader.
Dela Bandara denied gold plating his car buffers and said
that they had been electroplated and not gold plated.
“Why should I get my vehicle plated in gold? I am not rich
to get the car gold plated,” he said.
Asked whether he requested money from 18 institutions to
hold the annual pageant and whether it was true that the Maligawa coffers have
run dry since he took office, Dela Bandara said he was able to increase the
Maligawa funds from Rs. 230 million to Rs. 260 million.
“I have not misused Maligawa funds nor have I sold any
property that belongs to the Temple. I am the custodian of this sacred Temple
of the Tooth and therefore I am bound to not engage in any fraudulent
activities,” he added.
UK ready to investigate Sangakkara complaint
The UK Home Office says it was ready to investigate a claim of rude treatment towards Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara by a border officer at London Heathrow Airport on May 8.
“Back in London last night. Had a horrendous experience with a rude, patronising and extremely discourteous UK immigration officer,” Sangakkara wrote on twitter following the harrowing incident.
Sangakkara, who traveled to the UK for the past 15 years, said it was the first instance he received rude treatment, suggesting it was an isolated incident. He went on to describe all the other border officers present as “lovely” on twitter.
Yet the twitter comments set-off a firestorm of media reports over the incident.
Today, a UK Home Office spokesman said border officers were expected to carry out duties in a courteous manner and a probe would be launched once a formal complaint was made by Sangakkara.
“All Border Force officers are expected to carry out their duties in a professional and courteous manner,” a UK Home Office spokesman told lankareporter.com today.
“If we received a complaint suggesting these standards have not been met, it would be thoroughly investigated as a matter of course,” he added.
Go fly a kite
This is the reality he is facing for abuse of power and
violation of "Avirodha"- the madness of a deposed king
From The Daily Mirror
By Dr Nimalka Fernando
No one trusts politicians in Sri Lanka anymore. In
addition to a growing budget deficit there is also a growing ‘trust deficit’
between the “politician” and the “citizen” which extends and permeates into
every level and relationship in society. Victims of Human Rights violations
consider politicians to be responsible for the violence and pain they have
undergone and continue to experience daily. Civil society in general considers
politicians to be an unreliable corrupt bunch. More adjectives will be added by
readers of this article by way of comments later.
The level of
untrustworthiness that degenerated to a criminality was given a strong message
by society as they voted on 8th January 2015. They gave a strong message to politicians
during the Presidential Election.
From Basil to Johnny, today they are queueing up at the
Financial Crimes Investigation Department giving us brief glimpses into the
secret world of deals, bribes, cuts, commissions and recent history of
governance in this country. In this situation I was amazed to hear a ‘State
Minister’ saying that “the conversation between Mahinda Rajapaksa and
Maitripala Sirisena will make UNP lose its address”. This is the most direct
translation of the interview he gave to the media. This former Minister accused
of allegedly misusing funds meant for poor migrant workers and currently being
investigated for corruption is misstating the truth and has to be reminded that
it is the former President who has “no address”. You are a ‘misstate minister’
unworthy of the ‘State’ prefix.
The close associates of the former President don’t reveal to
the media where they met him when asked to reveal where the last meeting was
held. We see him in the media going from temple to temple with flowers and
cronies in different costumes with some sort of political begging bowl. He
camps in some temple in Narahenpita Colombo and holds ‘secret discussions’
planning some mad conspiracy or other against politicians on the driving seat
of real political reality. This is the reality he is facing for abuse of power
and violation of Avirodha, the madness of a deposed king.
Yet, his former ministers do not seem to have learnt a
lesson. Our narrative is about the future of this country and its political
future and it’s not about a private property of an individual politician.
The agenda of “for MR” is now exposed. They set high demands
for MR asking for a 2nd chance for him to lead them in general elections. Their
expectations are very high. They are day dreaming. The core of their thinking
revolves around a move to make the former President a Prime Ministerial
candidate and regroup the United Political Fraudsters’ Alliance for the next
election.
This is what they are hoping to raise with President
Sirisena I hear and hold him to ransom by accusing him of splitting the SLFP
when in truth it is Rajapaksa’s cronies who are splitting the SLFP. I fail to
understand their logic because they fail to understand reality.
How can a person who failed to govern this country as a
President, now re-emerge as the Prime Ministerial candidate? Do they think that
the people of this country live in a fool’s paradise? Maybe they live in a
different world where there are no ethics and civility.
They think that President Sirisena can be bulldozed with
their rage and ranting. The rally they convened put to shame the history of the
left movement in Sri Lanka which had a glorious record. No Left leader in this
country fell to the depths of campaigning for a corrupt leader nor upheld as
great the politics of hate and hate speech like they did on 1st May 2015.
"In fact, he would be an excellent Prime Ministerial
candidate if he contested from the new party, the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) is going
to form. He will have to fight it out with his former Defence Secretary brother
and the other leaders of the BBS who will turn on each other the moment this
new party is formed. We can telecast the event live like the most anticipated
boxing match we witnessed recently."
The leaders of these trade unions were no better. “MR rise
again” was their banner. What a sad state of affairs.
These people were once good, hardworking and dedicated
political activists. Now they call for re-instating Mahinda Rajapaksa as it is
necessary for them to get back on the bandwagon of syphoning State resources
for their comfort.
The irony of the situation is that most of these so-called
left trade union leaders used State resources during the Rajapaksa regime as if
it was their private property. Deprived of their corrupt life style and comfort
zones under President Sirisena they were whipped up into a frenzy which
resulted in the assault of their own friend and former comrade Dr. Nirmal
Ranjith who was doing what he did every May Day and attending all the rallies
in Colombo.
I hope that in time they will wake up from their day dream
and do some serious self-reflection. This would immediately start their journey
towards President Sirisena when they realise that they have been betrayed by a
corrupt despot using them as pawns in a game to return back to power. I must
condemn their so-called leaders in the worker’s movement of Sri Lanka. I am sad
that no worker nor Left analyst has yet exposed the shameful aspect of this
so-called false May Day held at Kirulapona. May Day is about worker liberation
and not political servitude to a dictator.
Left leaders screamed and yelled from their political stages
criticising all other parties for celebrating May Day.
I want to ask them what right they have to celebrate the May
Day under a banner that calls “Rising up with MR”.
Did he at least make effective the Worker’s Charter during
his tenure of service to the nation? The leaders of the Communist Party, LSSP
and DLF conveniently developed amnesia during Cabinet meetings during the past
ten years about this subject.
The same amnesia they developed in relation to electoral
reforms regarding which Dinesh Gunawardena wrote the report of a Parliamentary
Select Committee.
Now, they hope to bring a 20th Amendment with a lengthy
electoral reform process and a lengthy debate to delay Parliamentary elections
and buy them more time to build up their alliance of fraudsters. They will not
succeed. People will get their wish of elections as a soon as possible because
the people demand it.
Away with this 2010 people’s mandate which degenerated into
a competition to see who is the most corrupt. It is time to elect a new
Parliament and go towards a new political journey. Rajapaksa can join all the
other political loonies in Sri Lanka.
In fact, he would be an excellent Prime Ministerial
candidate if he contested from the new party, the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) is going
to form.
He will have to fight it out with his former Defence
Secretary brother and the other leaders of the BBS who will turn on each other
the moment this new party is formed. We can telecast the event live like the
most anticipated boxing match we witnessed recently.
This can be followed by a leisurely show of Rajapaksa and
his cronies flying kites in Galle Face like he did during the Social
Integration week organised by his friend and ardent supporter a few months ago,
an event at which he refused to speak about social integration and instead
chose only to fly kites. Now, he can really go fly a kite.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Mihin Lanka Pilot Snoozes In Cockpit By Himself
From Colombo Telegraph
A Mihin Lanka Captain was found snoozing in the cockpit of a
commercial flight en route to Colombo, whilst his First Officer of the low cost
carrier was locked out the airline’s sources told Colombo Telegraph yesterday.
The panic stricken Mihin Lanka First Officer (F/O) of flight
MJ 408 Subki Lafir and the cabin crew returning from Sharjah on the 1st of May
2015, finally succeeded in their frantic bid to gain re-entry into the flight
deck by using the emergency ‘overriding’ access code, after the F/O found himself
locked out by his operating Captain Wagh, who was subsequently found fast
asleep at the flight controls.
“The First Officer and the Flight Purser Rozeena were
relieved to finally gain entry into the Flight Deck after they found themselves
in a carbon copied situation that the fateful crew of ‘German Wings’ found
themselves in recently ”, inside sources from within the airline told Colombo
Telegraph yesterday.
Coincidentally the F/O Lafir could not have found a more
appropriate day than the 1st of May to make that dreaded cockpit distress call
‘May Day! May Day! May Day!’.
However in this instance he made this call out to his Flight
Purser Rozeena, who together with him managed to eventually gain entry to the
Flight Deck by using the secret code designed for such emergency purposes.
Captain Wagh an Indian national is reported to frequently
commute from his home town in Bombay to operate his scheduled flights, even
though he has his own accommodation in Seeduwa, a town which is located closer
to Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport Katunayake.
However on this particular day it was further reported that
he arrived from Bombay in the morning of 30th April 2015 and headed to the
Mihin Lanka office in Colombo to complete some official work.
“Obviously Capt. Wagh was not fully rested for this long
night turn around flight, even though he was provided with adequate time to
rest by the airline. This is probably the reason why he was fatigued on the
return sector” said a Cabin Crew member of the budget carrier.
What is interesting to know is why the airline’s newly
introduced safety rule was not applied by Capt. Wagh and F/O Lafir, where a
Cabin Crew Member now needs to be positioned in the flight deck whenever one of
the ‘two man’ cockpit crew steps out.
This amended safety rule was made by Mihin Lanka when it was
recommended to all airlines after the low cost carrier ‘German Wings’ recently
experienced a similar situation.
In that fatal accident the F/O of that airline locked out
his Captain in flight and in a successful suicidal bid went onto to crash the
aircraft in true ‘Kamikaze’ style killing all on aboard into the mountain range
of the French Alps.
However the duration that the F/O remained out of the flight
deck is also of importance, as it is now identified that if a person falls
asleep for over 20 minutes his body’s ‘circadian rhythm’ can send him into a
deep sleep thereafter.
It is still unsure if the F/O Lafir is yet to file an Air
Safety Report (ASR) regarding this incident, as Colombo Telegraph can confirm
that Capt. Wagh has gone on to operate three more commercial flights since this
incident.
However Gerald Mendis Mihin Lanka’s In Flight Services
Consultant did confirm to Colombo Telegraph that Flight Purser Rozeena had
officially informed Manager Manique Rodrigo and also him about this incident in
an email the following day.
“You can’t blame our Captains for sleeping in the sky as
equally our senior management are frequently caught napping on ground when it
comes to safety related matters. A complete overhaul needs to take place within
the senior management of the Flight Operations Department (FOD) if we are to
keep this an airline safe” said a rather disgruntled airline official.
“Capt. Wagh is probably the only Pilot who could easily
sleep through even a thunderstorm, as he has been caught napping on several
occasions by many F/O’s who strangely have not officially reported it”
continued the airline official.
It was also shockingly reported that the flight control
tower in Chennai had failed in their bid to get through to flight MJ 408 on
many occasions when Capt. Wagh was fast asleep at the flight controls. A
passing Sri Lankan Airlines aircraft had also failed in their attempt to get in
contact with MJ 408 during Capt.Wagh’s period of slumber, where they had gone
on to use the emergency frequency.
One cannot blame the sentiments of these airline’s officials
as it has now been frequently reported that the Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Capt. Druvi Perera’s competencies as a ‘Pilot and an Administrator’ was both
exposed in the ‘Weliamuna Report’, which has left many bemused as to how he
still mysteriously continues to remain holding his posts overlooking both
airlines.
His appointed Manager Flight / Ground Safety Capt. Keminda
Yahampath’s whose position is yet to be endorsed by the Civil Aviation
Authority (CAA) of Sri Lanka is also reported to be as tainted as his COO on
his own pilot related incidents.
Whilst Capt. Yahampath was more famous to have burst the
tires of the aircraft he commanded into Trivandrum prior to his promotion and
quizzical appointment, his boss COO Capt. Druvi’ Perera’s commanded flight
skidded off the runway in Chennai going on to damage the landing strip and
lights where it was all hushed up during the times the country was run by the
Rajapaksas. The Director Flight Operations (DFO) Capt. Pujitha Jayakody’s
character is also questionable where he was reported to have being apprehended
and remanded by the local police in Singapore for ‘shoplifting’. With a pending
court case for his theft, Capt. Jayakody has avoided setting foot in the ‘Lion
City’ for the past 25 years.
“That pretty much sums up the management of Mihin Lanka’s
flight operations department who runs the safety part of the flying business.”
said our source.
The disparity and inconsistencies displayed by the senior
management that now commands both airlines since the merge is where in another
Sri Lankan Airlines reported incident Capt. Anupama Pathirane and his F/O are
currently grounded pending inquiry into an incident on that took place on their
flight from Trichy to Colombo last year.
However in this instance the Mihin Lanka Capt. Wagh and F/O
Lafir still continue in their flying roles.
“The entire nation continues to watch in horror as many
safety related incidents reported in the media is being ignored by the Chairman
Ajit Dias of both Sri Lankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka, his Board of Directors
and moreover H.M.C. Nimalasiri the Director General of Civil Aviation of Sri
Lanka.”l amented a very senior airport official.
“However what is more serious about this incident is as to
why the airline’s management has turned a blind eye especially when this
incident took place in international air space. The seriousness of the non-held
inquiry up to now is as serious as the incident itself, that now warrants an
immediate investigation into the management of the flight operations
department” the senior airport official further said.
‘Divi Neguma’ Funds Siphoned Off To Bail Out Cash-strapped Newspaper Companies
From AsianMirror
It has been revealed in police investigations that a large amount of ‘Divi Neguma’ funds have been used over the past five years to fund news paper companies affiliated with the former first family.
Police Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) is now conducting inquiries into the utilization of ‘Divi Neguma’ funds which came under the purview of the Economic Development Ministry headed by Basil Rajapaksa. The former minister is presently in remand, along with three other senior officials of the ministry, over misappropriation of ‘Divi Neguma’ funds.
The investigations revealed that a large amount of ‘Divi Neguma’ funds had been siphoned off on a monthly basis to bail out some cash-strapped news paper companies that allegedly belonged to close associates of the Rajapaksa family; FCID sources told Asian Mirror yesterday.
Speaking to Asian Mirror a senior officer of the Police Department said the owners of those newspaper companies would be summoned by Police soon to obtain statements in this regard.
“ Some individuals who claim to be the owners of those newspaper companies are presently overseas. We have credible information that they merely acted as proxies of the former first family in the newspaper industry. However, these transactions had taken place in a shady manner, without any standard procedure” he also added.
The Rajapaksa family came under criticism from various quarters for buying over independent newspaper companies through proxies.
Wilpattu in danger! - Far reaching consequences of human invasion
By Gagani Weerakoon and Risidra Mendis
Wilpattu National Park, it seems, no longer belongs to the
geographical landscape of Sri Lanka, as it has gained its place in the
political landscape of the country. The political and communal twist however,
poses a threat of marring the real environmental and social issues involved.
The ongoing deforestation in the name of resettling
Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) would not only result in reducing the area
of this 'Land of Lakes' but would also aggravate the already acute problem of
human-elephant conflict, as predicted by environmentalists.
Minister of Trade and Commerce Rishard Bathiudeen who was
accused of being responsible for getting a colony created with funding from
Qatar has now issued an open challenge to environmentalists and other parties
with vested interest, to prove that there are Pakistanis among those who have been
resettled.
What Minister Bathiudeen and those who are involved in
giving a communal twist to the whole matter have failed to understand is that
the crux of the matter is not the ethnicity of those being resettled but the
clearing of forest land and invading wildlife habitats.
On the other hand, Conservation Biologists have opined that
the trees that were felled to clear the area for a colony are over 50-60 years
old. This shuns the claim that the same lands were inhabited by the same people
or anyone else some two decades ago- before the country's ethnic war forced
them to leave the area.
"I have not resettled Muslims within the Wilpattu
National Park and have not engaged in any illegal activities as claimed by the
media. Some media institutions have blackened my name by accusing me of
destroying the Wilpattu National Park by resettling Muslims in this area. It
was I who worked towards resettling not only Muslims but also Sinhalese people
displaced by the war," Bathiudeen said.
"I invite all media to tour the Wilpattu area with me
and am prepared to walk with you wherever you want me to go to prove that there
are no illegal settlers in this area. I am in total support of re-settling
whoever was displaced in the North, Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims.
However, when Ceylon Today questioned the Minister as to
whether an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) was conducted by the Central
Environment Authority (CEA) prior to the land being cleared of all vegetation,
he said, to check those details with the Divisional Secretariat of the area.
Meanwhile, President Maithripala Sirisena has directed the
Secretary to the Ministry of Environment to carry out an impartial
investigation into the matter as fresh calls were made to stop resettlements.
Beginning of an end
"Sri Lanka is slowly becoming barren due to the rapid
destruction of forests. The lowland wet zone in the country has already
depleted and we are surviving on the dry zone forests. Sri Lanka is a Bio
Diversity Hot Spot and if we continue to clear forest land at this rate we will
end up with desert land," Conservation Biologist Ranil Nanayakkara explained.
He added some of the trees that were destroyed while the
forest land was being cleared were around 50 to 60 years old and that these
areas could not have been inhabited by people 20 years ago.
"If these people were living in this area there should
be some tell tale signs or structures. Some of the trees that were cut down
were palu trees, of about 50 to 60 years old. The Sloth Bear feeds on the palu
berries and cutting these trees will have an adverse effect on the bears.
The destroying of the forest will also seriously affect the
leopard, the elephant and all other animals that live in the jungle. The people
living in these areas go into the jungle to collect the palu berries. If these
people get attacked by a bear or leopard they will take revenge on the animal
by killing it. Resettling people in these areas will lead to poaching. Wilpattu
has many natural willus (lakes) that are fed through ground water and these
willus could dry up due to the deforestation," Nanayakkara said.
Many environmental organizations including the Environment
Foundation (Guarantee) Limited (EFL) and the Green Movement has sought legal
redress to solve the matter.
"It all began with the construction of a road. When the
road construction was underway, we wrote to the authorities to stop it. Finally
we went to Court. When the land was being cleared for 'Jassim City' we brought
it to the notice of the CEA, but they failed to take action. The Forest
Department gave the land and the construction was carried out without a proper
procedure. Environment Impact Assessments have not been carried out. These
lands were given by a committee represented by all stakeholders including
Divisional Secretaries. It is up to environment authorities to act according to
the National Environment Act, but they have failed to do so," Vimukthi
Weeratunga, Director EFL said.
He said the move by the authorities will lead to various
other problems in the future as well.
More dangerous situation
"People were settled in Mahaweli lands without a proper
assessment and today they are clashing with elephants. In this case the
authorities have put people in a more dangerous situation as it is not only
elephant attacks the settlers will come under but attacks from leopards as
well," he said.
EFL, in a letter dated 13 March 2013, had urged the Chairman
of the Central Environment Authority Wimal Rubesinghe, to immediately stop the
ongoing construction in Wilpattu.
"We have come to know that there are moves to settle
Muslim families on forest lands coming under the purview of the Forest
Department in the Mullativu and Vavuniya Districts."
It was further stated that the land earmarked for the
settlement has a total area of 2,388 acres. Apart from this block of land, an
additional 850 acres has been requested for the same purpose from Maritimepattu
in the Mullaitivu District and another undisclosed area of land from the Mannar
District.
Over 500 acres in the northern parts of the Wilpattu
Sanctuary have been destroyed due to the illegal resettlement activities, in
complete breach of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (FFPO) and the
National Environment Act. This situation is reflected in the Northern and
Eastern Provinces too.
What is the law?
Environment Lawyer Jagath Gunewardene commenting on the
illegal resettlement in the Wilpattu National Park said according to Section
23AA of the National Environment Act (NEA) if more than one hectare of forest
land is cleared or more than 100 houses are to be built on forest land an
Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) has to be done by the Project Opponent at
his own cost.
"The EIA has to be sent to the Central Environment
Authority (CEA) and the Forest Department for approval. The Divisional
Secretariat is not the Project Opponent and cannot approve the EIA. This act is
also illegal according to Part 4C of the NEA since the project opponent has not
got the relevant legal approval.
If the said structures are within the Forest Reserves it is
illegal and if resettlement has taken place inside the Wilpattu National Park
that is in violation of Section 7 of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance
(FFPO)," Gunewardene said.
If any development activity is taking place within a
one-mile distance inside the border of a national park in the buffer zone, an
Environmental Impact Assessment must be carried out for the Central Environment
Authority's approval. The same applies according to the National Environment
Act, for any development activity taking place 100 metres inside a sanctuary's
border.
Clearing of jungles in a sanctuary, road construction,
constructing of temporary or permanent settlements, residing in them, the
destruction of areas populated by wild animals, are all violations of the
Ordinance, punishable with fines ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000 and also
carrying two to five-year prison sentences.
According to Section 23AA of the National Environmental Act,
under Part IV(C), any prescribed project needs an environmental approval before
commencement of activities.
The list of 'Prescribed Projects' is provided in the
regulations published in Gazette Extraordinary No.772/22 of 24.06.1993.
In this list, any use of 'forest land' for a non-forest
purpose is declared as a prescribed activity. The term 'Forest' as defined
under Section 78 of the Forest Conservation Ordinance, means any land at the
disposal of the State. Thus, any State land not declared under the Forest
Conservation Ordinance or any other written law, falls under this category.
In an instance where a 'prescribed' activity has been
initiated without due environmental clearance, Section 24BB of the National
Environmental Act empowers the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) to issue a
Directive ordering that all such activities need to be suspended till such
approval is obtained.
If this Directive is not heeded by the responsible parties,
the CEA can get an order from a Court that has jurisdiction over the area, to
stop all such activities (under Section 24 BB(2)) till the necessary approval
has been obtained.
The entire illegal resettlement programme in Wilpattu has so
far, consumed 3,000 hectares of forest and sanctuary areas belonging to the
Department of Forest Conservation governed by the Forest Ordinance.
PETITION
A petition signed by Concerned Citizens of the World to the
leader of Qatar, Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani states that funds given from
the Qatar Government "are fuelling the illegal destruction of elephant
habitat around Wilpattu National Park in Sri Lanka, in particular the Jassim
City project (named after and funded by a charity that carries the name of the
President of Qatar."
The petition says this destruction started shortly after
high level talks between the Kingdom of Qatar and the Government of Sri Lanka
after Prime Minister of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani met
with former Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa, who also had the
Ministry of Wildlife and Minister Trade and Commerce, Rishad Bathiudeen. The
petition further states that the Kingdom of Qatar would have been misinformed
by the Government of Sri Lanka on the details of the resettlement.
"Due to the evidence available of the illegal nature of
this settlement, which is also creating new zones of human/elephant conflict
and religious tensions, we respectfully request the Kingdom of Qatar to halt
the funding of Jassim City. We also respectfully request that independent
environmental impact studies be done on all projects being funded by Qatar in
Sri Lanka and to take appropriate actions based on the results of these
studies,".
MiG Deal: Rajapaksas Paid US$ 10 Million To A Ghost Company: “No Company Called Bellimissa” – Interpol Confirmed
From Colombo
Interpol Headquarters confirmed that there was no company called
Bellimissa Holdings Limited in the United Kingdom. When the MiG deal fell into
media spotlight in December 2006, it was highlighted that so-called
government-government deal involved payment to a mysterious third party,
Bellimissa Holdings, UK. Bellimissa was in fact a ghost company that did not
exist in any form in the UK. Even London address it had provided to the Defence
Ministry was false.
Confirming the media reports, last week, the Interpol Headquarters
has reported to the the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) that
there was no company called Bellimissa Holdings Limited in the UK.
The controversial MiG 27 deal was first revealed by Sunday Times
Defence Correspondent and Senior Journalist Iqbal Athas in December 2006 and
further exposed in The Sunday Leader then edited by murdered Editor Lasantha
Wickrematunge.
It was revealed in the front page report of The Sunday Times dated
03.12.2006 that four MiG 27s purchased in 2006 had been on the market for
several years. They had lain in disuse since 1991 and were repaired by Lviv
State Aircraft Repair Plant before being sold to Sri Lanka. In fact, in 2000,
three of these planes had been rejected by SLAF on two different occasions.
Firstly on May 25, 2000, when the SLAF purchased four MiG 27
aircrafts at US$ 1.5 million each, and next on October 24, 2000 when two more
MiG 27 aircraft were purchased for US$ 1.6 million each. Thus, it appears that
these very same MiG 27 aircraft had earlier been rejected by the SLAF in 2000
were purchased in 2006 at a cost of US$ 2.462 million each.
On the basis of The Sunday Times news report on March 11, 2007
Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi, two key minsters who broke
away from the Rajapaksa government made complaint to the Bribery Commission
alleging corruption part of the Presiden’ts brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Following the complaint the Ministry of Defence issued a statement
on March 22, 2007, titled “MiG 27-Inside Story”. This statement is false in
many aspects. On of the main issues is the MOD refers this procurement is as a
deal between the producer government ( Ukraine ) and the Government of Sri
Lanka. This statment is false for the following reasons. Ukrinmash from SLAF
purchased these aircrafts is the self-supporting Foreign Trade Investment
Subsidiary of UKPSPETSEXPORT – the State company responsible for the export of
military products. Such organisation does not fall within the parameters of a
government to government contact.
Under a Government to Government deal, monies must be paid to the
relevant bank account of the Government or a Government Institution. The MiG
purchase monies were not paid to a bank account of ukrimash in Ukraine either.
Instead payments were made to the account of UK company named Billimissa
Holdings.
Belimissa Holdings Limited is a party of the contact sign by the
MOD. So the MOD is deliberately lied to the public to cover up this fraud.
Udayanga Weeratunga, a first cousin of the former President Mahinda
Rajapaksa, who had allegedly involved in arms sales to separatist rebel
fighters in Ukraine, was the main broker of the MiG Deal.
In February 2006, Udayanga Weeratunga was not Sri Lanka’s
ambassador to Russia, but a Sri Lankan citizen resident in Ukraine. There was
nothing to distinguish him from any other Sri Lankan apart from being a first
cousin of the Rajapaksa brothers.
Records from the guard room of Air Force Headquarters indicate that
Weeratunga visited the SLAF headquarters no less than 25 times to meet air force
officials.
Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa filed legal action against The
Sunday Leader newspaper to prevent further exposure of the corrupt deal. The
investigative reports on the MiG deal proved to be one of the last reports on
controversial defence purchases under Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s reign in Sri Lanka’s
mainstream press. After The Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge was
killed, the newspaper was purchased by a Rajapaksa family friend Asanga
Seneviratne. The Sunday Leader, on March this year apologised to Gotabaya
Rajapaksa for a series of articles written in the newspapers in 2006 on the
purchase of MIG 27 aircraft for the Sri Lankan Air Force. The unqualified
apology was carried in The Sunday Leader newspaper of 8.3.2015.
On April 2, 2015, Colombo Telegraph exclusively reported that after
violating all laid down norms for recruitment to the Sri Lanka Navy, the son of
former President Yoshitha Rajapaksa received a 13th month course sponsored and
paid for by Ukrinmarsh, the Ukranian Government’s “State Self-Supporting
Foreign Trade and Investment Firm.”
It was all arranged by Udayanga Weeratunga, former Sri Lanka
Ambassador to Russia and first cousin of Rajapaksa. This clearly shows that
Weeratunga, who stands accused by the Ukranian Government of selling weapons to
pro Russian separatist rebels was operating hand in glove with the former
President and his brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former Defence Secretary.
Sri Lanka's Lankaputhra Bank gave loans on bogus collateral: Chairman
According to the finance ministry data, Lankaputhra Development Bank had 1,146 million rupees of bad loans and a 46.7 percent non-performing loan ratio.
Lasantha Gunewardene, appointed Chairman of Lankaputhra Bank in February 2015, said bad loans were now at 1.5 billion rupees.
Gunewardene said loans had been given under political direction under the last regime to politically connected borrowers who did not fulfil the bank's own credit rules.
He charged that a number of loans had been apparently given knowing that they will never be paid back.
In one case a businessman had been called to the office of a minister and given a cheque for 100 million rupees. Gunewardene said when they tried to collect the loan, he had expressed surprise and said he was told the money would not have to be paid back.
In another case, the bank had been asked to pay 'special attention' to the loan application of a politically connected businessman who had been denied a loan.
Several other large loans ranging from 200 million to 300 million which had been given either on the instructions of the Treasury or the Presidential Secretariat had gone bad, Gunewardene said.
He said an internal audit had revealed that many borrowers had been given loans on forged documents and fake collateral.
A loan had been given on 'precious stones' with a valuation report from a gem authority given as collateral to the bank, but only worthless quartz stones were found in the safe, Gunewardene said.
A loan had been given on a deed, which was found to be a temple, he said.
Gunewardene was responding to a charge that Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake had given a list of borrowers to Lankaputhra Bank, with instructions to give loans to them.
He said no such instructions had been given. The policy direction had been issued to give loans on proper collateral, Gunewardene said.
Sri Lanka's state banks have been used by the elected ruling class for directed lending for several decades, especially during the 1980s and 1990s.
The Bank of Ceylon and People's Bank have been bailed out twice with tens of billions of rupees of public money.
But in the late 1990s and early 2000s the Chandrika Kumaratunga administration and the subsequent Ranil Wickramasinghe administration tightened credit standards and governance at the two large state banks, leading to calls for new 'development' banks.
Sri Lanka's post 2004 administrations built two banks, SME Bank and Lankaputhra Bank which promptly attracted bad borrowers.
Ravi challenges MR for public debate
From The Daily Mirror online
Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake today challenged former
president Mahinda Rajapaksa who was also the former finance minister to a
public debate on a statement made by Mr. Rajapaksa that the Lankaputhra Bank
had lent funds to various people named in a list submitted by Mr. Karunanayake.
Mr. Karunanayake rejected this allegation and told
journalists that he was ready to prove that this was false at a public debate
with the former president.
The minister said he was prepared to meet Mr. Rajapaksa at
any suitable place for such a debate.
He said he had instructed his lawyers to file a defamation
case claiming Rs.2 billion in damages.
“I have nothing to hide,” the minister said and added that
some groups were planning to submit a no-confidence motion against him and some
others.
“Do they think that we have nothing better to do than
respond to various allegations cooked up by them,” he asked.
Lankaputhra Development Bank (LDB) Chairman Lasantha
Goonewardena who also participated in the media briefing said the minister had
instructed the Bank to lend money only to those who were able produce proper
collateral.
He said a credit audit that had been conducted had revealed
that the non-performing loans of the bank had exceeded Rs.1.6 billion as at
December 31, 2014.
Mr. Goonewardenea said he had been appointed as LDB Chairman
only in February 11, 2015. (Yohan Perera)
Why China's slowdown matters
After a long period of stunning growth, China's economy is now slowing.
The economy grew at an average rate of 10% a year for the three decades up to 2010.
It has slowed markedly. Last year, the Chinese economy grew 7.4%. TheInternational Monetary Fund (IMF)'s most recent forecast is 6.8% for this year and 6.3% for 2016.
So why is this significant?
Why is China's economy slowing?
The government wanted a slowdown, and has encouraged it because there are long-term forces that mean it was inevitable sooner or later.
Better, if possible, to have a gentle slowdown - called a "soft landing" - than a disruptive one.
More fully, China's very fast economic growth was based on some factors that could not last forever.
Very high levels of investment have been part of the story.
Last year, the figure was 48% of economic activity, or gross domestic product (GDP), according to IMF data.
There are only a few other economies where the figure is so high.
Most are in the 15-30% range.
Investment is certainly essential for improving the capacity of the economy for the future.
High investment rates have been important factors in other Asian economic success stories.
But you can have too much of a good thing.
There is always a risk with large-scale investment that some projects will be uneconomic.
It can lead to instability in property prices if there is heavy investment in construction, and there have been persistent concerns about whether China might have a property market crash.
So the government's aim is to get spending by Chinese consumers to take a bigger role in driving the economy, and it has the support of, for example, the IMF in that.
A research paper from the IMF concluded in 2012 that Chinese investment was too high.
There is also a limit to the supply of new workers moving from the countryside.
The IMF has warned that China could instead increasingly face labour shortages, partly as a result of the country's "one child" policy.
What has happened to China's exports?
Exports of cheaply made goods have been central to China's stunning growth.
From the turn of the century to 2011, there were only two years when China's exports did not grow by more than 10% and there were six years when it was more than 20%.
The exceptions were 2008 and 2009, when China's markets in the West were reeling from the financial crisis.
Since 2011, the export growth figures have been more modest, slowing to 6.4% last year.
China's export performance has been politically contentious, especially in the United States.
Some research has found evidence to support the idea that employment and pay rates have been affected in American industries exposed to increased competition from China.
Sometimes the balance between China's exports and imports has been taken by some as an indication of the country's growing challenge to the manufacturing industry in the developed nations.
Taking a slightly wider measure - the current account surplus, which you get by deducting imports from exports and adding in some financial transactions - that has moderated.
This is a measure of China's transactions with the entire rest of the world, not any specific country.
As a share of China's GDP, this surplus peaked at 10% in 2007 and last year was 2%.
It is still large in cash terms, however, at more than $200bn (£135bn).
What has been the impact on the rest of us?
China also imports a lot, which is one reason why its slowdown matters to the rest of the world.
China is the second biggest importer of both goods and commercial services.
It is the biggest export destination for Thailand, and comes in second place for Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil and Japan (and for the last two, it is not far off first place).
For the European Union, China comes in third. And for the UK and the US, it is number four. (These are World Trade Organization figures, which treat the European Union as a single export destination.)
China has an important role as a buyer of oil and other commodities, and the slowdown has been a factor in the decline in the prices of those goods.
So even if China's more moderate growth is a good thing in the long term, it has had an adverse impact on some countries, especially commodity exporters.
There is also the possibility of financial instability spreading from China.
Since the financial crisis, debt in China has grown rapidly.
A recent IMF report specifically expressed concern about the property marketand how it might affect companies that had lent to that business.
It said: : "In China, exposures to real estate (excluding mortgages) are almost 20% of GDP, and financial stress among real estate firms could lead to direct cross-border spillovers."
Exactly how big is China's economy?
Depending on how you crunch the numbers, it is either the biggest or second biggest on the planet.
There are two answers because to compare economies, you need to convert the numbers into a common currency.
Usually, it is the dollar, and there are two ways that economists do it.
One is taking actual exchange rates; the other uses a method called purchasing power parity (PPP), which makes allowances for differences in price levels.
As of last year, China overtook the US on the PPP basis, though it still lags on the exchange-rate measure.
On the latter basis, China's economy is worth about $10 trillion (nearly £7tn).
The figures for the other large economies are $17.4tn for the US, $4.6tn for Japan, Germany close to $4tn and the UK very nearly $3tn.
In per capita terms - which gives a rough and ready indication of what has happened to living standards - China advanced by 1,300% from 1980 to 2010.
It is worth emphasising that, in those terms, China is still a long way adrift of the rich countries.
Its GDP is very large, but so is the population.
Using the PPP basis, China's GDP per person is a quarter of the US level and a third of the UK's.
The gap is, however, narrowing.
Has President Xi Jinping's fight against corruption had an impact on China's economic performance?
A report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch suggested that fears of being accused of taking bribes had left Chinese officials very reluctant to approve public investment projects.
There have also been suggestions that there has been an impact on hotels and restaurants.
But even if there has been a short-term impact, there is a widely held view among economists that corruption has negative long-term effects.
The title of a World Bank research paper (back in 1999) put the question rather neatly: "Corruption in Economic Development: Beneficial Grease, Minor Annoyance, or Major Obstacle?"
The conclusion was that it was a major obstacle.
It encourages excess public spending, and distorts the way it is used, shifting it from health and education towards less efficient public projects.
It also deters private investment - though insufficient investment is not currently China's problem.
What should we look out for in the next few months?
There will be data from the Chinese authorities every three months.
We have had the figures for the first quarter of 2015, which showed growth of 7% compared with a year earlier and 1.3% from the previous quarter.
There is quite a lot of scepticism about the reliability of these official figures.
Diana Choyleva, of Lombard Street Research, thinks Chinese GDP actually declined in the first three months of the year.
China's slowdown will be a major issue hanging over the big international economic policy events of the year: the G20 summit in Turkey in November and the annual meetings of the IMF in October, this year being held in Peru.
It is unlikely, however, that these gatherings will do very much about it.
For sure, China's slowdown will be a key feature of the global economic landscape for several years and will affect the rest of us.
But it is generally seen as inevitable, a fact of life that the rest of the word can adapt to - just as long as China does achieve that much desired soft landing.
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