Untitled Document

News

Tea boss says attack has political undertones
By Tania Fernando
The Colombo 7 residence of the chairman of a state institution came under a grenade attack last morning in what is claimed to be a result of a political tussle between two ministries. The Horton Place residence of Tea Small Holders Development Authority and Tea Shakthi Fund Chairman Ratna Gamage was attacked around 3 a.m. Two grenades were flung at the house, causing damage, but no one was injured.

The attack came as Mr. Gamage who was appointed as chairman two weeks ago, was getting an audit on the accounts of the TSHDA and TSF on the instructions of the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises.

Mr. Gamage told The Sunday Times he believed that the grenades were hurled at his house due to the fraud that he came across when preparing the accounts. "We found that cheques were written illegally, officials appointed illegally and frauds were running into millions," Mr. Gamage said.

In addition, Mr. Gamage said there was a tussle between the Ministry of Plantations Industries and the Ministry of Small Holders Development over who should control the TSHDA and the TSF.

He said that according to the allocation of subjects for ministries, the two institutions should come under the purview of the Ministry of Plantations. However, the Ministry of Small Holders Development claimed that the institutions should come under it.

Mr. Gamage said he believed the grenade attack on his residence was linked to the takeover of the TSHDA and TSF by the Small Holders Development Ministry under Minister Susantha Punchinilame. But with his appointment being made by Plantations Industries Minister Lakshman Kiriella, it was clear that the TSHDA and TSF came under that ministry, Mr. Gamage said. Mr. Gamage said he had written to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and to the Commissioner of Bribery & Corruption about the alleged fraud in the TSHDA and the TSF.

Gentle giants face cruel death
Pix and text by Athula Bandara from Anuradhapura
Elephants are dying at an alarming rate, mainly of gunshot injuries, WildLife officials warn.

They said during the past five months 25 deaths had been reported from the Wayamba Wild Life Zone which includes Puttalam, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura and Vavuniya.

Last week alone there were four deaths, two in Horowpathana in the Anuradhapura district, and the other two in Settikulamba Periyakadu in Vavuniya.
In Horowpathana an elephant with her five-year-old calf was shot dead while in Vavuniya, a 25-Year-old elephant got entangled in an electric barb wire near a police check-point along with her eight-year-old calf.

Cross talk over hi-tech system
By Harinda Vidanage
Amidst continuous breakdown of the hi-tech voting system in Parliament, German engineers checking out the system are yet to give a green light for Tuesday's session.

While the company that installed the new system has sent two German engineers to carryout checks, the government has launched a probe into awarding the contract to Swedish Trading International Ltd, Parliamentary Secretary General Dhammika Kitulgoda said.

He said the company had yet not officially handed over the system to parliament and an investigation was underway regarding the sale of the microphone system. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the company, Swedish Trading International Ltd said test-running had to take place for a few weeks before the system was handed over to Parliament. He said German engineers were brought down because the system was of German origin. He claimed the company was not responsible for any failure in the system as members of parliament had used it before it was officially handed over to Parliament.

University admissions, courses on the web
A website will be launched tomorrow for the benefit of students to provide them with information on the courses they have been selected to and the university they have been admitted to, the University grants commission (UGC) said. The web site is "selection.ugc.ac.lk

"This is the first time in the history of university admission in Sri Lanka that such an opportunity is given to students to obtain information through the internet in advance before the letters for their admission are sent out, the UGC said.

Back to News