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Udaya:
Why was Anura unaware? Ceylon Tourist Board Chairman Udaya Nanayakkara, a former husband of Minister Bandaranaike's sister, Sunethra, defended board's involvement in coordinating the Bollywood show, saying it was an event to attract tourists to the country. But Tourism Ministry Secretary P. Ramanujam who was ordered by Mr. Bandaranaike last Sunday to probe how the Tourist Board got involved confounded the dispute by saying the minister was probably aware of the general involvement but not the official involvement. He said the Tourist Board chairman was at a news conference featuring the Indian stars and the minister would have known the Board was involved in some way. Mr. Nanayakkara said the Tourist Board mainly assisted the organisers of the concert by helping them contact the right people. "It was a tourism event for us as many tourists were coming for the concert from countries like Malaysia and India," he said. "I do not know why the Minister wasn't aware of the board's involvement. You'd have to ask him that," Mr. Nanayakkara said in response to a question by The Sunday Times. Dr. Ramanujam said a report on the whole matter had been submitted to Minister Bandaranaike. He said the Tourist Board was not directly involved in the concert, but only facilitated the provision of Police, municipal and health services. He said there had been sanitary facilities available to the spectators, but nobody wanted to leave their seats in the fear of losing it. Minister Bandaranaike has also asked for an inquiry as to why proper sanitary facilities and security arrangements were not made. Dr. Ramanujam said inquiries indicated that sanitary facilities were available but the audience apparently did not wish to leave their seats and make use of them for fear of losing their seats. Minister Anura Bandaranaike's outburst on the Tourist Board involvement came despite Deputy Minister Arjuna Ranatunga's direct involvement by going to the airport to greet his superstar friend Shahrukh Khan. |
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