Letters
View(s):Response to “GK depositors or investors”
A letter by D.P. Jayasinghe has appeared in the Business Times last week under the caption “Golden Key credit card holders are not depositors: They are investors”.
Mr. Jayasinghe says that the Golden Key Credit Card Company (GK) was, at the outset, a ‘doubtful institution’, whilst claiming that interest as high as 30 to 36 per cent per annum was paid.
Why is Mr. Jayasinghe making these observations after seven long years have lapsed, and when a settlement to re-pay the depositors is almost near. Or is there a sinister move to jeopardise the re-payment plan?
I further fail to understand how Mr. Jayasinghe has arrived at the 30 to 36 per cent interest as, I for one, did not receive such high interest.
It is obvious that the said Mr. Jayasinghe is not a GK depositor and therefore has not undergone the trauma and mental agony that we, depositors in GK have undergone for the past 6 ½ years.
With due respect to the said Mr. Jayasinghe and the knowledge he professes, I wish to pose the following questions:
(1) If GK was a “doubtful institution’ as claimed, shouldn’t the government of the day have taken necessary action to curb its activities?
(2) Isn’t it the responsibility of a democratically elected government to provide redress to the thousands of suffering depositors?
With regard to claiming their dues, it appears that Mr. Jayasinghe feigns ignorance, hence, I would like to enlighten him that legal action has been instituted in almost all courts, in order to recover the dues from Lalith Kotelawala and his clan, which has met with no success over the years.
Does nobody care about the 162 depositors who have met with an untimely death, 33 of whom have committed suicide due to lack of finances for their survival, whilst Kotelawala and his co-directors live in the lap of luxury, whereas their rightful places should be at Welikada?
Therefore, the intervention of the government was absolutely necessary, and should be hailed by all, before many more depositors meet with untimely death.
What we, depositors, are seeking is justice, as the law, as well as those who were in power, and those who had the ability to relieve us of our mental and emotional agony, have been dragging their feet for almost seven years, and taunting us with repayment.
Therefore, we, depositors, are grateful to President Maithripala Sirisena who has initiated the initial re-payment plan.
It is the right and freedom of every citizen of Sri Lanka to express themselves. However, I humbly and earnestly request those who are not depositors of GK, or in fact any other such financial company; those who have not undergone and undergoing the trauma, mental agony and financial restraint, to please refrain from commenting on such issues. It would be better to focus on subjects that are more familiar to them, than to add to the heart burn and desperation of the depositors.
Bryan Nicholas
Colombo
Ceylinco Shriram depositors disappointed with Ravi
The Business Times has taken up cudgels on behalf of the senior citizens and the Golden Key depositors and achieved some results. I hope you will do the same for the Ceylinco Shriram depositors as well. Upto date we have received only 60 per cent of our deposits; after this therehas been silence. A cabinet paper has been given to the Supreme Court but nothing has come out. Celestrial Residencies belonged to the Shriram Group but it is supposed to have been bought for a nominal fee by a VVIP’s son. How are the depositors going to get back the remaining 40 per cent? Lalith Kotelawala’s wife is seen weekly at Walmart London shopping with all the money she has swindled.
Isn’t it time the Finance Minister looked into this? We the depositors who are also voters at the next General Election are certainly not going to vote for the likes of him. We will look elsewhere for someone else who can solve our problems.
Disgruntled depositor
Colombo
Offensive and highly immoral TV ads
In one of the current TV advertisements promoting a popular brand of tea, a young teacher is seen inside a well stacked supermarket. She selects a tomato from the rack and asks the owner “is this fresh?” “Yes of course, plucked this morning,” is the reply. Then she goes to the fish display rack and directing her hand to stacked fish, questions the owner “are these fresh?” “Yes of course, caught this morning,” says the owner smilingly.
These brands and TV ads producers seem to be thinking that Sri Lankan viewers are a set of fools with pea brains who can be taken for a ride. These are offending advertisements, but to whom are we to complain in this country? Morning-plucked tomatoes or morning-caught fish cannot be there, for sure, in a supermarket chain.
Another offending and highly immoral TV ad is a soap brand ad where a popular Indian actress is trying to seduce a young man inside a lift while it is moving. This ad is of course shown on Indian TV and also shown regularly through our private and state TV stations. This is a very immoral ad for Sri Lankan audiences where the entire family with kids sits together to view local TV.
There are a few more TV ads of an offensive nature using especially little children to market their products, where children perform unbelievable herculean tasks. Brands and ad producers take it for granted that we are people without any thinking power or commonsense.
If there is an Advertising Authority of Sri Lanka like in the UK then we have some authority to complain to. In the UK at the bottom of most public ads there is a notice which says: “If this advertisement offends you please call ASA phone …………”
If an advertisement offends us in Sri Lanka, we have to call on the Gods above, and pray, “Oh God! Please clean the cobwebs around the coconut brains of these wise guys,” or write to a people’s oriented newspaper like the Sunday Times.
It is time for Sri Lankan lawmakers to think about safeguarding consumers/viewers through such an advertising authority in Sri Lanka.
Sumith De Silva
Polgasowita.
Saga of the missing files
This is in reference to the Business Times report on June 21 where it has been reported that an unbelievable 2,600 important files have gone missing from the Finance Ministry.
In the latter part of 2014 in around December, there were news reports saying gunny bags packed with files were detected inside an abandoned well and also several vehicles fully loaded with files found hidden within a private property owned or otherwise by Shiranthi Rajapaksha, wife of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa who also functioned as the Minister of Finance.
Thousands of Sri Lankans here and abroad must have read or seen these news paper disclosures. You will never trace these files unless by a miracle.
Reader
Ambalangoda