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Aloysius distillery: Finance Ministry asked to show cause
A Task Force, functioning under President Maithripala Sirisena, has queried the Finance Ministry on how approval was granted to establish an ethanol distillery in Batticaloa, contrary to government policy. The Presidential Task Force on Drug Prevention (PTFDP) functions under the purview of President Maithripala Sirisena. The PTFDP has asked the Finance Ministry Secretary to explain how approval was granted to set up a new ethanol distillery in Kalkudah, Batticaloa, in violation of the National Drug Prevention Policy (NDPP).
W.M. Mendis is owned by Arjun Aloysius, the son-in-law of the Central Bank’s former Governor Arjuna Mahendran who is currently being investigated over the bond issue. Last year, the Excise Department gave approval to the company to set up a grain-based extra neutral alcohol (ENA) distillery on instructions from the Department of Fiscal Policy, both of which fall under the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry was then headed by Ravi Karunanayake.
The NDPP states that “No new licences will be issued for tobacco and alcohol production”. Now, PTFDP Director Samantha Kumara Kithalawaarachchi has asked Finance Ministry Secretary R.H.S. Samaratunga to submit a report on how W.M. Mendis & Co received permission to set up an ethanol factory in the East. Dr Kithalawaarachchi has pointed out in his letter that the PTFDP strives to create a country free of drugs and has been able to generate positive changes with the help of Government and NGO agencies.
But the PTFDP has received a complaint about the setting up of a liquor distillery by W.M. Mendis & Co in Kalkudah, Batticaloa. The NDPP is explicitly against the granting of new licences for such purpose.
“Therefore, we find that this establishment is a violation of the National Policy,” Dr Kithalawaarachchi says. He has sought an immediate reply which he would submit to the President. “At at time when His Excellency the President himself shows immense dedication to eradicate the drug menace, we hope you will render your fullest support to create ‘a country free of drugs’,” he concludes. His letter has been copied to 13 others, including Batticaloa District parliamentarians.
W.M. Mendis is owned by Arjun Aloysius, the son-in-law of the Central Bank’s former Governor Arjuna Mahendran who is currently being investigated over the bond issue. Last year, the Excise Department gave approval to the company to set up a grain-based extra neutral alcohol (ENA) distillery on instructions from the Department of Fiscal Policy, both of which fall under the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry was then headed by Ravi Karunanayake.
The Fiscal Department’s first communication to the Excise Department saying approval has been granted for the project is dated May 2015, a bare five months after the presidential election. In March 2016, W.M. Mendis wrote to the Commissioner General of Excise seeking a distillery licence to commission the plant. This was granted shortly afterwards.
But the project has run into stiff resistance in the East. It has been opposed by the Batticaloa District Coordinating Committee, the Koralaipattu Pradeshiya Sabha, the Eastern Provincial Council and the Koralaipattu-Valachchenai Divisional Coordinating Committee.
Last month, around 2,000 people turned up for a protest organised by the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama. Petitions have been forwarded to the Government through area MPs.