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Mahinda rejects Anura’s former b-i-l
President Mahinda Rajapakse has stepped in to over-rule Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike's re-appointment of his ex-brother-in-law as chairman of the Tourist Board amidst a raging controversy within the industry.

A letter addressed by Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunge was delivered yesterday to Minister Bandaranaike half an hour before he left for the airport to embark on another trip abroad, this time to Dubai in connection with official 'tourism promotion', but also coinciding with the festive holidays. The Tourist Board is expected to pick up the tab for his visit.

The letter said that Nawalage Bennet Cooray, a Japanese-speaking tour-guide turned one-time MP, should be appointed the new Tourist Board chairman, and not Udaya Nanayakkara, whose re-appointment this week caused a major stir within the industry and also a row within the Ministry between the Minister and the Secretary.

The controversy that was brewing within the multi-million dollar industry, one of Sri Lanka's largest foreign exchange earners, came to a head this week, soon after The Sunday Times published its story under the heading 'Tourist Board ex-chief refuses to quit'.

The story referred to Mr. Nanayakkara coming to office and summoning meetings despite his resignation under the circular issued by the President's secretary to all board members of statutory corporations and banks. The story referred to two major associations in the industry, the Sri Lanka Hoteliers Association and the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators asking for Mr. Nanayakkara's head and a meeting with the Minister to ensure he is not re-appointed to the post under the proposed Tourism Development Authority that comes into force in January replacing the Tourist Board.

Mr. Nanayakkara said he was "told to" continue as Chairman by the Minister, a matter that Ministry Secretary P. Ramanujam said he was not aware of.
On Sunday, however, Minister Bandaranaike had decided to appoint a former government servant Merryk Gunaratne to fill Mr. Nanayakkara's vacancy, but according to reports after receiving a telephone call from his sister, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga who was then in Canberra, Mr. Bandaranaike had changed his mind. During the week, Minister Bandaranaike sent a letter to the President's office stating that he had re-appointed Mr. Nanayakkara as Chairman of the soon-to-be-defunct Tourist Board. The appointment was back-dated for Nov. 24.

An issue had arisen as to whether Mr. Nanayakkara's own resignation in terms of the Presidential circular was after Nov. 24, and therefore whether there was a contradiction in terms of his appointment back-dated for Nov. 24 and his resignation in terms of the circular dated after Nov. 24.

Immediately after the Minister's letter was sent, Batey's, the PR firm hired by the Tourist Board, issued what later was termed an 'unauthorised' media release announcing the appointment of Mr. Nanayakkara as the Chairman, Tourist Board.

The release contained a glowing account of Mr. Nanayakkara's achievements in the tourism sector. It said that Mr. Nanayakkara would continue to serve as chairman towards achieving the strategic objectives of the industry for 2010.
However, the Ministry Secretary was quoted in the daily newspapers as saying that he was unaware of this appointment. The usual practice is for such appointments by the Minister to go via the secretary to the President's office.
The very next day, Batey's dismissed two of its employees, Roshani Galappathy and her assistant, saying the two ladies had issued an unauthorised media release on behalf of the firm.

In the meantime, a major spat occurred between the Minister and Secretary Dr. Ramanujam, first in the Parliament complex and then on Friday when Mr. Bandaranaike sent a letter to his secretary asking him not to speak to the media on matters concerning "my Ministry"."After my explicit instructions to you, repeated many times, you have continued to speak to the press regarding my Ministry, although you were aware and I explained to you in detail about my decisions and the latest developments," the letter said.
The row took a turn for the worse when the Minister called off a scheduled meeting with his own secretary to discuss matters further.

The cancellation was made on the basis that the secretary would talk to the media. Under the provisions of the Establishment Code it is the secretary of the ministry who is authorised to speak to the media on behalf of a ministry.
The Minister's letter also asked that the secretary "instruct Batey's to immediately re-instate the two members of their staff who had been working with the SLTB and being interdicted yesterday". Ministry officials said yesterday that the secretary has no powers to interfere with the disciplinary inquiries being conducted by private firms, and referred to the Minister's instructions as "outrageous".

Meanwhile, the Minister left for Dubai yesterday accompanied by his private secretary A.H.M. Onnais, his batman Gamini and will be met by Mr. and Mrs. Thirukumar Nadesan in the gulf state. He and his party will be staying at the Hotel Meredien on the funds collected for the cess that is meant for tourism promotional and marketing activities, and one of the root causes of disagreement between the industry and the Tourist Board Chairman.
Mr. Nanayakkara in the meantime was trying to schedule a meeting with President Rajapakse today at the tsunami victims memorial at Peraliya near Hikkaduwa to iron out his problems.

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