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Maldivian
firm mulls seaplane service Going by air would be a fast and efficient way to visit the tourist attractions given the poor state of the roads and traffic congestion, they said. Director General of Civil Aviation, H.M.C. Nimalsiri, said the department was "very positive" about introducing services by seaplanes, provided the security considerations were taken into account. "There is a lot of potential for seaplane operations in promotion of tourism," he said. "Most tourist sites are in the southern, eastern and central regions. With seaplanes we can take tourists almost to the doorstep of important tourist sites and cut short travel time." Maldivian Air Taxi officials have already scouted around the island for potential sites and held talks with prospective local collaborators. Company officials who visited Sri Lanka at the invitation of tourism companies also sought information on legal and certification requirements from the Civil Aviation Department during their visit. The company
shot to prominence earlier this year when one of its seaplanes took
the LTTE's chief negotiator Anton Balasingham and others from the
Maldives to the Iranamadu tank in the Tiger-controlled Wanni at
the start of the peace process. Prema Cooray, chairman of the Aitken Spence conglomerate, one of the biggest travel and tourism firms, said they supported the move to operate a seaplane service. Airken Spence has no immediate plans to revive its helicopter service, which had to be shut down in the 1990s because of security problems, given the prevailing uncertainties about the prospect of a lasting peace. "But we support the move by Maldivian Air Taxi to bring and operate floatplanes in Sri Lanka," he said. "I think it is an ideal way to travel - we have so many waterways," he said. Seaplanes could take tourists directly from the Katunayake international airport to beach resorts and other excursion points like Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Anuradhapura, allowing visitors to get to their destination faster. "Top-end clients do not want to spend more than 40 minutes from the time of arrival in the country to get to their destination," Cooray said. Maldivian Air Taxi operates a popular service in the Maldive islands, transporting visitors from the airport to outlying atolls which are too far or would take too long to reach by boat. SEC
remains silent on insider dealing probe It is now more than three weeks since the Attorney General's Department advised the SEC that there appeared to be a prima facie case against Mack and two other ex-directors of the Aitken Spence conglomerate. SEC officials declined comment while acting chairman, Nihal Jinasena, would only say that the commission is "proceeding with our deliberations." There was no delay in the probe and the commission was "taking time to do it carefully," he said. Jinasena declined to comment on the "independent" review of the AG's advice that the commissioners had reportedly sought, a move seen as unusual and a privilege usually not given to others who have faced similar accusations. A former SEC commissioner said he could recall only one case where the commissioners had got an independent review of the AG's advice, and that too with the permission of the AG's Department. Solicitor General C.R. de Silva, whose opinion was sought by the SEC, also declined comment on the probe into the sale of Aitken Spence and Co Ltd. shares during May-June by three former directors of the company and their family members. The former directors are Mack, Norman Gunewardene (both former chairmen of the firm), and Manil de Mel. The SEC is also probing the sale of shares by Gunewardene's son, Ajit Gunewardene, who is chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange. The conglomerate broke its silence on the case last week to issue a statement saying that its share of the losses over the last few years in its subsidiary Aitken Spence (Garments) had been accounted for in published accounts of the group up to September 30, 2002. "We wish to confirm that our share of the losses incurred by Aitken Spence (Garments) Ltd, over the last few years have all been correctly accounted for in all published accounts of Aitken Spence and Co Ltd, up to 30th September, 2002. No additional disclosure was necessary as the financial position of Aitken Spence and Co Ltd, was correctly presented," the statement said. The statement, apparently issued in response to reports that the company had not made a full disclosure of the losses, made no direct reference to an alleged fraud at the garments subsidiary that has figured in the inquiry but said: "In order to arrest the losses, the Company took corrective action in May 2002, by changing the day to day management of Aitken Spence (Garments) Ltd, and as a consequence, financial discipline has been instilled." Prospects
bright - Aitken Spence Although there was still a lot of concern about global tourism with a possible American attack on Iraq and the terrorist bombing in Bali, there were signs of better days for the tourism industry in Sri Lanka, he said. The conglomerate, one of the biggest tourism operators in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, had done well in the first half of the current financial year, largely because of a good showing from its tourism and power sectors, he also said. "For the next winter season we have been getting quite a few inquiries from new markets such Sweden and Denmark which is a very good sign," Cooray said in an interview. Visitors from
India and China were on the increase and there were prospects of
increased arrivals from traditional markets such as Germany, the
UK and Italy. Despite the slowdown in European arrivals, which were much lower than in previous years, overall arrivals were not much different than last year. This was because of the Indian traffic generated by the promotions offered by the Tourist Board and the national carrier, although the Indian traffic is centred largely round Colombo and does not benefit beach resorts, Cooray said. He expects this trend to continue especially with more SriLankan Airlines flights to Bangalore and increased frequencies to New Delhi soon. Furthermore, the trade was now "getting reasonably good prices" with the end of the promotional package, Cooray said. "We've
been able to penetrate the market. The Indian market has excellent
offers from Malaysia, Thailand and Mauritius - so we have to compete
with those prices." He declined
to comment on the on-going investigation by the Securities and Exchange
Commission into the sale of shares by former company directors.
"The first half was good for tourism, especially the company's resorts in the Maldives," he said. Meedhuparu, a big resort built by Aitken Spence two years ago, made a "notable" contribution while the 20 MW power project in Matara launched in April has started bringing returns. Power contributed about 10 percent of profits in the first half, he said. Mobile
phones The minister had been pushing for this change for a long time, and has insisted that it be implemented by next year, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority sources said. The TRC, which is handling the issue, had managed to come to an agreement between the current licensed operators, Sri Lanka Telecom, Suntel and Lanka Bell, who previously enjoyed this facility. TRC officials said that it is highly unlikely that the new move would affect the demand for these regular phone operators. However, TRC officials said that concerns had been raised by pager companies, who claim that the move could be deemed as the final blow that would seal the fate of their already crippled industry. However, Minister Bakeer Markar is to announce relief measures for pager companies in order to protect them from the increasing popularity of cellular phones. A TRC official who did not wish to be identified said that pager companies in Singapore had faced similar problems, which the government managed to solve, hinting that similar relief measures are to be announced to safeguard the four existing pager companies in Sri Lanka. (SG) Peiris
family loses control of RPC RPC, whose Arpico brand has become a household name, was started in 1932 by Richard Peiris and Percy Peiris, and two friends, Walter Rutnam and Evelyn Fonseka - with a modest capital of Rs. 12,000. The company was able to prosper during the Second World War when demand for rubber tyres soared and Ceylon supplied much of the rubber required to retread large volumes of tyres for the allied forces. A latex production
line was added in 1948 and the firm began exporting latex toys to
the United Kingdom in 1952. After the four founders passed away,
Richard Peiris' son, Henry, took over as managing director. He remains
today as chairman. He and other
members of his family sold their remaining stakes in the company. It has a tyre rebuilding joint venture with the big American manufacturer, Bandag Inc. RPC associate company Asia Capital has a link with Indosuez W.I. Carr. Another associate Dipped Products Ltd, a joint venture with the Hayleys conglomerate, is among the five largest non-medical gloves manufacturers in the world. RPC and Asia
Capital have substantial strategic investments in each other. |
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