Million dollar payments rushed for tourism media blitz
Sri Lanka Tourism, it has been revealed, has made colossal spends amounting to millions of dollars that were paid off in a rush the day before and after the January 8 Presidential elections for a purported international media blitz.
According to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, confidential documents seen by the Business Times show that former Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Bhashwara Gunaratne and its former Managing Director Rumy Jauffer signed receipts for payments to international media companies amounting to US$2.4 million on January 7 and January 9 raising questions why this was carried out in a rush at the eleventh hour.
It was surmised that they would have assumed there could have been a change of government due to which they would want to allegedly cash in on the commissions obtained from these, the sources said.
The former management had carried out advertising campaigns on the international media through an advertising agency for which they had made payments hours before and after the presidential election this year.
In this regard, payment receipts to the Al Jazeera Network of $329,176 were signed on January 7, 2015; $885,000 on January 7; $195,000 on January 9; $180,000 on January 9; and another $180,000 on January 9. In addition, payment receipts were signed for Bloomberg amounting to $87,805 on January 9; another $86,150 on January 9; $87,805 and a further $400,080 payment to Fox International Channels for Sky News and Sky Sports on January 9.
All these receipts were signed and followed with a letter sent to the Bank of Ceylon (BOC) to debit these amounts and transfer these said monies to the respective organisations.
When the receipts of these payments were signed by the two former bosses of the key state tourism institution, the Finance Department was uncertain over the reason for the rush of these payments with the elections on, as a result of which, officials maintained photocopied copies of these documents and presented it to the new management, the sources said.
| Pro-Rajapaksa staff still active The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) is plagued with staff still supporting the previous management with high political affiliations that has contributed to an adverse working environment. Interestingly, some of the staff has been found to override the usual procedures to grant contracts to their friends at international trade fairs. Recently (under the new regime), at a tender called for a dance troupe to perform at the ITB Germany trade fair, a well-known famous troupe had already obtained visas and the letter asking them to participate prior to opening the bids. And with only three days to go for the main event authorities were compelled to give them the opportunity since they already had visas which was hard to get in a hurry. However, this had caused distress to the other bidders who had in turn sought redress from the Prime Minister about the unfair treatment meted out to them inspite of bidding with lower rates. This led to an inquiry resulting in a high powered (pro-Rajapaksa) senior official at the bureau realising that the ‘old game’ could not be carried out all the time. The officer apparently had no authority to sign such documents. Moreover, some of the this staff was found to be ‘bossing around and loitering in the office’ without seemingly much work to do and it was hard to take a stand against them since they cannot be reprimanded on ‘political reasons’. They are politically connected to a former minister’s wife. In addition, it was noted that since they were part of the permanent cadre it was hard to remove these persons from office as well. Another ‘male’ employee is said to be the partner of a former, all-powerful Sri Lankan Ambassador now on the run. These officers are appointments made by the previous regime and continue to retain their statusquo believing that their former bosses could make a comeback. Previously when there were regime changes, political appointees would buckle down and work according to the wishes of the new management. But in the case of appointments made by the Rajapaksa regime and based on the belief that the former President will return, most of these officials were found snooping around and feeding confidential information to their former bosses’. The SLTPB, allegedly having financially supported the former administration during the run-up to the last Presidential election on January 8, is wrought with allegations of corruption and malpractices. |