Nilmin, Mervyn exonerated from fraud charges
Cleared of charges against defrauding monies and criminal breach of trust, both travel industry veterans – Nilmin Nanayakkara and Mervyn Fernandopulle on Thursday were commended by colleagues and industry stalwarts for their contribution to tourism after overcoming an ordeal in remand custody.
An emotional Mr. Nanayakkara insisted he was not working under anyone’s instructions at the time they took decisions as directors of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB). It had been alleged that some monies of the Bureau had been used for election purposes.
Nilmin Nanayakkara
He made these observations at the ceremony organised by the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) and Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) at the Ramada Hotel. Mr. Nanayakkara recalled that the day they were granted bail the media was not present but pointed out that they had already been branded publicly and “we were defamed publicly.”
The NKAR Travels Managing Director also pointed out that though his business too was impacted, he believed that they would be able to generate sufficient support from the industry to overcome the challenges faced by them. He had been held in remand prison for a period of eight days, and during this time his personal life was also affected.
Mr. Nanayakkara spoke at length of the ridicule his son had to face following his arrest by his friends in school for which he pointed out was unfair since he was someone who had worked as a director at the bureau for remuneration purposes. In fact, he explained that some of his small time competitors had tried to create a bad impression about him with some of the company’s clients that was a serious cause for concern.
Meanwhile, Mr. Fernandopulle addressing the gathering said they had undergone a difficult time mainly due to the fact that they were restricted from travelling overseas as a result of which their companies and personal lives underwent financial strain. He noted that even the banks that previously held trust in them later queried how they could pay back any loans and increased the interest rates on any new loans.
Mr. Fernandopulle observed that at the time of crisis it was interesting to find out how they would be negatively impacted and requested hoteliers to assist his businesses to grow. Tourism Development and Wildlife Minister John Amaratunga commended the independence of the judiciary in finding Mr. Nanayakkara and Mr. Fernandopulle not guilty and expressed his pleasure in seeing the release of the two.
“Here is one area where the judiciary found they are not guilty,” he said. Commenting on the programmes lined up for this year the Minister explained that the next biggest scheduled event would be the CITES wildlife conference and hoped they could progress this year without any issue with several other events taking place as well.
“We are quite famous for disruptions,” the minister said while hoping everything goes according to plan.
Returning from a promotional visit to Thailand, Mr. Amaratunga said that they needed to increase awareness among these people about the country. In fact he pointed out that currently he had submitted a cabinet proposal to provide visa free entry to Thai nationals. “I’m having a battle in Cabinet for visa free. They don’t understand that most Asian countries follow these policies,” he said.
In addition he noted that the capacity at the airport needs to be increased with separate areas for the locals and foreigners at customs clearance. SLAITO President Harith Perera referred to the arrest of the two industry stalwarts as an incident that was disappointing for persons who had been in the industry for over 40 years.
He noted that the industry was united to see that both get support and believed that maybe they should have done more.
Mr. Perera recalled how they found it difficult to find someone to replace them on the boards as well since most were reluctant to take up the position due to the consequences faced by them. As a result, he pointed out that they lost a number of opportunities to promote the country for the betterment of the industry.
THASL President Sanath Ukwatte referred to Mr. Nanayakkara and Mr. Fernandopulle as persons of impeccable character and affirmed their support towards them in their future endeavours.