2nd April 2000

What signals do appointments give the country?

Mr. Jayawardena is an accused in several inquiries into alleged foreign exchange frauds. The Customs Department is conducting inquiries into 13 incidents in which Stassen Exports Ltd., of which he is the chairman had defrauded Customs duties for a long period of time. In these 13 cases the value declared by the company to the Customs Department was USD 206,529.05. According to the Customs Department inquiries the actual value of those 13 consignments was USD 444,090.38. The duty payable to the Customs Department for those 13 consignments was Rs. 19,239,944,00. Accordingly the extent to which the Customs Department was defrauded in those 13 instances alone was assessed at Rs. 10,274,784,00.

The Customs Department officials detected this chain of alleged frauds in September 1997. Although they wanted to have all the directors of the company including Mr. Jayawardena arrested, it was allegedly prevented by the intervention of senior government persons and it became a talking point in the country. But the former head of the Customs Department was able to continue the inquiry.

The Customs Department wanted statements from the board of directors including, Mr. Jayawardena in connection with one of the 13 incidents, but the directors continued to refuse making any statements, and consequently the Customs Department had to file action against the members of the board of directors including Mr. Jayawardena for not attending Court.

There is also an inquiry pending against Mr. Jayawardena before the Central Bank in connection with an incident in which he had allegedly obtained without a bond a sum of Rs. 800 million from Hatton National Bank in 1992, while being a director of that bank.This reportedly is a clear violation of the provisions of the Banking Ordinance. In addition to this there is also an inquiry pending against him before the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the purchase of a large number of shares of the Hatton National Bank reportedly through the finance manager of the Distilleries Company in which he has the majority of shares, just several days before that bank issued bonus shares.

What signal does the President want to give the country by appointing a person to the Securities and Exchange Commission against whom there are so many allegations. What signal does she give to the officers who are conducting inquiries against Mr. Jayawardena and to the Judges who have to decide the relevant court cases? No doubt every man is innocent until proven guilty, but is it another way of saying that the law does not apply to her own friends?

Rienzie Arsakularatne who has been appointed Acting Director General of the Bribery Commission had taken over the supervision of a file sent to the Attorney General's Department for action against his brother-in -law in connection with an alleged fraud at Edna Chocolates. There was an inordinate delay in charges being brought against anyone and it thus gave that person the opportunity to leave the island, and this became a subject of conversation in the country. Although the former Attorney General defended Mr. Arsakularatne at the news conference summoned regarding this incident, it then gave a stained reputation to the Attorney General's Department. The manner in which Mr. Arsakularatne became an advisor of the Bribery and Corruption Commission when it was set up was also a matter of dispute. There were allegations against Mr. Arsakularatne before the Commission of Inquiry headed by Denzil Gunaratne (attorney-at-law), who had been appointed by the Minister of Fisheries Mahinda Rajapakse to inquire into irregularities that had occurred when the Mattakkuliya Fisheries Training College was handed over to the private sector. There were findings against Mr. Arsakularatne by this committee and the files were sent to the Fisheries Minister for action.

If the discretionary power given to the head of state to select and appoint persons to institutions of great importance is not used honestly and in a manner that serves the interests of the country, it will soon pave the way for anarchy.

The Special Report

Editorial/ Opinion Contents