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Anura
B's trips: for what and on whose account? He was in London for four days en-route. A Ministry release earlier this week announcing his departure to accompany President Kumaratunga in New York did not disclose his four-day stay in London, nor did it state the purpose of his stop-over. Neither did the release announce the purpose of his visit to New York, or whether it is a private visit, an official visit, or a semi-official visit. On a previous visit to London, only in June this year, when The Sunday Times Political Editor questioned the status of that visit, Minister Bandaranaike wrote to the newspaper stating " you accuse me of wasting government funds abroad. My Ministry only paid for my official stay of four days which involved several meetings with tour and investment personnel. Thereafter, during my stay in London I paid for all my bills on my own. This may be verified from my Ministry or from the Sri Lanka High Commission in the UK ". When The Sunday Times contacted High Commissioner Faisz Musthapha and asked him for Minister Anura Bandaranaike's bills, pointing out Minister Bandaranaike's own exhortation, the High Commissioner declined to oblige with the following statement; " It is not the practice of this Mission to make available bills, which in accordance with the existing financial regulation procedures, we are obliged to forward to our Chief Accounting Officer in Colombo ". The Sunday Times requested High Commissioner Musthapha to ask Minister Bandaranaike who was in London on Friday and yesterday for his consent to release copies of the bills in view of the fact that it was Minister Bandaranaike himself who had made the exhortation to us. We received no bills nor any reply from the High Commissioner to this request. In the meantime, the Tourist Board which comes under Minister Bandaranaike, has cancelled its annual Sri Lanka Tourism Awards ceremony in November this year in London. The event, usually coincides with the World Travel Mart when tour operators who send tourists to Sri Lanka are recognised and felicitated. The reason given for the cancellation - No money. |
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