Treasury Secretary - Government not taking action.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) has been asked to take immediate stringent action against John Keels Holdings after the Supreme Court recently ruled that the transaction involving the sale of 90% shares of Lanka Marine Services (Pvt) Ltd to the company and the sale of land at Bloemendhal Road was illegal, unlawful and arbitrary.

The demand was by Nihal Sri Ameresekere, a consultant and public interest activist, in a letter to the Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Jayampathy Bandaranayake on August 14, a copy of which was sent to the media.

Mr Ameresekere noted that the findings of the judgment are damning, both on the corporate sector coming under the purview of the chamber, and the public sector, with whom the private sector interacts, and are diametrically contrary to the norms of governance that the chamber advocates.

“Unless you and your chamber take stringent and immediate action in the national and public interest you and your chamber will stand to be tarnished, as a ‘lame duck’ and ‘dubious’ organisation. You ought to deal with members of your chamber in the first instance, and practice norms of governance the chamber pontificates and propounds, before the chamber ventures out to advise governments on how to conduct affairs, and castigate only public servants for bribery and corruption,” the letter said.

In another letter dated August 8, Mr Ameresekere has protested against the awarding of the Best Corporate Citizen Award to JKH requesting the chamber not to white wash and make false belief in the public domain of corporates and professionals, who are furthest from performing, let alone to social responsibility, but to conform to the rule of law.

Vasudeva Nanayakkara, the petitioner in the LMSL case, had informed the Secretary General/CEO of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in writing on December 24, 2007 that the conduct of the chamber – in presenting the CSR award to JKH - was not only an affront to the Supreme Court, but also an attempt to baptize as good, what is patently despicable and injurious to society.

In that letter Mr. Nanayakkara noted that he was made to understand that the then President of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Mahen Dayananda had ‘endeavoured’ to justify the selection on the basis that the Attorney General C.R. de Silva had been a member of the selection panel.

He pointed out that if that be true, he is appalled that the AG had compromised himself to be so associated, whilst as the Attorney General, he was a respondent in the Fundamental Rights Application filed in the public interest, and ought to have known better to act to protect the public interest.