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Foundation directors make 'free Corea' plea
Five directors of the six-member Gamani Corea Foundation have claimed that the well-known economist who heads the institute named after him, has been reduced to a condition in which he cannot act as a free agent on matters of vital importance to the man.

Reacting to a statement by a spokesman for Ceylinco chief Lalith Kotelawala - who holds a general power-of-attorney on behalf of his 77 year old cousin Gamani Corea, all five board directors of the Foundation have urged Mr. Kotelawala to co-operate with them in ascetaining Dr. Corea's "true wishes" and agree how they could be fulfilled.

They have asked that Dr. Corea's funds and his medical records be released for him to travel to Geneva, a visit the Foreign Ministry is also helping to co-ordinate. Dr. Corea is currently the chairman of the Geneva-based South Centre which is planning to felicitate its head at a ceremony organised at theUN.

The five directors - Marga Institute's Chairman Emeritus Godfrey Gunatillake, former Bank of Ceylon Chairman Dr. Nimal Sandaratne, former Director General of Planning at the National Planning Department and Alternative Director Asian Development Bank Dr. Lloyd Fernando, World Bank economist Dr. Harsha Athurupana and former Asian Development Bank Secretary Priya Amarasinghe -- say that their Chairman and friend for many years, Dr. Corea, is being prevented from meeting friends and colleagues and can meet only a select group of relatives without the presence of security guards. They say that Dr. Corea has no access to his own cheque book or cash.

The main medical condition of Dr. Corea is reportedly frequent memory loss and the incapacity to take decisions at times. The directors say they welcome the statement by the Ceylinco chief's spokesman K. Gunaratnam in last week's issue of The Sunday Times that no asset transfer of Dr. Corea's estimated Rs. 500 million wealth would be made to any person or fund.

The directors have called for a public contradiction of the contents of an earlier letter written by Mr. Kotelawala to Mr. Gunatillake on April 17 this year where he is reported to have said that a separate 'Gamini' Corea Trust will be formed into which all assets of the former UNCTAD secretary-general for ten years, one-time Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Planning and one-time Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, will be channelled.

The directors say that a meeting of the Foundation scheduled for April 25 this year was thwarted by Ceylinco security personnel when they refused permission for the board members to enter Dr. Corea's Horton Place residence despite Dr. Corea, the chief occupant, wanting them to come in.

They say that plans to publish Dr. Corea's memoirs by the Foundation have been stalled for lack of funds being released, but add that the immediate concern of the Gamani Corea Foundation is not to seek monies to start the work of the Foundation which was set-up by Dr. Corea himself, but to ensure his medical recovery.

The Gamani Corea Foundation was created in February 2000 as a non-profit distributing institution, its primary objects include the promotion and conduct of research in economics and other related fields of learning and the enhancement of knowledge in all branches of learning with special emphasis on the social sciences.
The five well recognised directors who have worked with Dr. Corea for many years add that public indifference to Dr. Corea's predicament must cease and issues like the legal rights of persons in such medical conditions must be looked into.

In a separate statement to The Sunday Times K.M. Anthony who says he was Dr. Corea's accountant and administrative assistant for the past 10 years, dismisses the Ceylinco Chairman's spokesman's assertion made last week that Dr. Corea was not looked after medically until his cousin Mr. Kotelawala stepped in. Mr. Anthony rejects a reference by the spokesman that there were "trespassers" in the rear of the vast extent of land between the residence facing Horton Place and Barnes Place saying they were all old retainers of the wealthy economist, whom he felt safe with, especially from burglars.

Meanwhile the report on the investigations conducted by the CID into Dr. Corea's plight has now been handed over to the Inspector General T.E.Anandarajah. DIG CID Lionel Gunatillake confirmed that the report was handed over on Friday.

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