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PM to take over PERC
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is to take over the controversy-riddled PERC (Public Enterprises Reform Commission) following a spate of criticism over the way it has handled recent privatisation deals, The SundayTimes learns.

PERC currently comes under Economic Reforms Minister Milinda Moragoda.
The Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation's ousted chairman, Chrisantha Perera, is tipped to be the new chairman of PERC. Mr. Perera was ousted from the SLIC after the recent privatisation of the profit-making corporation.

Janashakthi Insurance, one of the bidders for the SLIC complained after the Distilleries-Aitken Spence conglomerate clinched the deal for more than Rs. 6 billion that there was no transparency by PERC, and that they had been left out of the loop during the privatisation exercise.

The Sunday Times learns that the Ministry of Policy Development and Implementation, of which the Prime Minister is the Minister, will take charge of PERC. PERC has been riddled by droves of senior managers quitting and stands accused of failure to adhere to proper procedures in privatisation agreements and the failure to provide information to the public.

One recent controversy has been the privatisation of the six cluster bus companies to a controversial British-based bus consortium PERC has long been facing the brunt of public criticism, especially on grounds of corruption and mismanagement.

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