Financial Times

Nanayakkara to re-start costly refurbishing plan
Is the Sri Lanka Tourist Board Chairman Udaya Nanayakkara making confusion worse confounded?

According to reliable sources, he told the staff and board of directors last week that he had been praised by President Mahinda Rajapakse in New Delhi for his work. But, the sources alleged that all that the president asked during that brief encounter at a cocktail party - was as to what the tourist board chairman was doing there and as to why he also spent board funds for a function that was already funded for by the President’s office.

Nanayakkara, who refuses to quit despite pressure from the tourism industry and sections of the government, also told staff he was going ahead with the Rs 40 million refurbishing of the board that was stopped in September last year by the Ministry due to its exorbitant costs appears to have President Rajapakse had second thoughts on replacing Nanayakkara. While former MP Bennet Cooray waits for his letter of appointment from the Minister as the new chairman, the president has said he was not ready to rock the boat on a small issue like this and preferred Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike sorting out the spat between Nanayakkara and the industry.

“This is one man (Nanayakkara) holding the country to ransom. The government is ineffective and is unable to move him out when he is a disruptive influence,” a senior industry official said.

The two premier industry organisations representing hotels and travel met last week and were considering legal action against Nanayakkara since tourism laws clearly state that the chairman of the board shouldn’t have any personal interests in the industry. Nanayakkara chairs at least three companies, as clearly seen from latest Registrar of Companies’ records, which have interests in the industry.

“We should have taken legal action earlier but we thought of following a more moderate course of action by appealing to the government,” the industry official said.

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