Bananas for JJ irks servicemen
By Shanika Udawatte
Service personnel on board an AN-32 flight bound for Ratmalana from Palali last Monday had to accommodate 'VIP cargo" containing sweets and bananas of a Cabinet Minister, loaded to the air craft at the last minute.

The aircraft had a VIP commitment to carry Minister Jayalath Jayawardena's cargo of eight boxes and a bundle wrapped in paper. The Sunday Times learns that the cargo was excluded from the usual checking procedure and checked at the airport apron. When an angry military officer queried he was informed that the VIP cargo contained cartons of sweets and a bunch of plantains. Military personnel protested to the Minister's aide when one box was kept on top of a coffin of a soldier who had died during a training exercise in Jaffna.

"We were shocked when one of the boxes was placed on the coffin of a soldier by an aide of the Minister", an officer who was in the aircraft said. "One officer who was seated at the back pushed the box aside. It was then that the VIP aide realised the gravity of the situation. He then placed it under a passenger seat," he added.

Minister Jayalath Jayawardena told The Sunday Times he was unaware that the aircraft was carrying the coffin of a dead soldier. "The boxes contained some sweets and bananas given to me by the people of Jaffna. I had to carry the items to Colombo. If not it would hurt the people who gave them to me with good intentions", the Minister added.

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