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Government agencies pay taxes to LTTE
By Nalaka Nonis
Tiger guerrillas have begun collecting "taxes" from Government organisations marketing goods in the Wanni and the Jaffna peninsula.

An investigation by The Sunday Times has revealed that this dubious exercise, by which the LTTE is in fact siphoning off large sums of money, is being carried out through state trading organisations like the Co-operative Wholesale Establishment (CWE), the Building Materials Corporation and the Sri Lanka Cement Corporation.

Some are paying "taxes" to the LTTE when goods are carried past "LTTE check-points" at Omanthai. This is before they enter Wanni or carry the goods straight through the Alpha Nine highway to Jaffna. Others have agreed to a mark-up of their goods sold and pass down the proceeds to the LTTE.

In Jaffna, The Sunday Times learnt, all goods marketed by CWE branches had a five per cent mark-up on their goods. This is said to be over and above the cost taking into consideration transport and related costs. A senior CWE official, who spoke on grounds of anonymity, confirmed that the mark-up was being collected for payment to the LTTE but said he had no knowledge how this was being paid to them.

In the case of the Sri Lanka Cement Company, the price of a bag of cement has been raised from between Rs 100 and Rs 120 to accommodate not only transport and handling charges but also to provide for the "tax" payment to the LTTE. The amount paid to the LTTE from every bag of cement is Rs 50. Similarly, all goods marketed through branches of the Building Materials Corporation also carry a mark-up for the LTTE, officials in Jaffna confirmed.

S. Jeewaratnam, Marketing Manager, Sri Lanka Cement Corporation Ltd. said: "We are compelled to sell cement at higher prices as we have to pay tax as well as make a profit to survive in business." Added CWE offical M.Moulana: "We are compelled to sell items at a price higher than Colombo. This covers various costs and other matters." Some state organisations such as the Lanka General Trading Company Ltd are fighting shy to pay the tax and are hence shipping their goods to Jaffna and this has resulted in a shortage of their goods.

General Manager Prabath Gunatunga said their organization was reluctant to send goods by road, as they were not prepared to pay taxes to the LTTE. "As a result there is a shortage of goods, because shipping goods takes time," he said.

The payment of "taxes" to the LTTE had been agreed upon by state trading agencies since they have been told that permission to transport their goods to the Wanni and Jaffna peninsula would not be otherwise allowed.

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