Revelling in controversy

Does business tycoon Harry Jayawardene, easily the most powerful businessman in Sri Lanka – a mantle once enjoyed by the late Upali Wijewardene -, revel in controversy?

There have been many digs at the man, many titles foisted on him like’ Harry J”, “corporate raider” or “one who stops at nothing”. He has been accused of threatening a Customs officer with a revolver during a raid in his office; of bribing officials; politicians; funding or handles the assets of political families … the list is endless. But does that worry him … or rather does he enjoy the attention – good or bad? Take his latest ‘victory’: ousting the very man, his virtual guru who guided, moulded him and together took him to set up Stassens in the 1970s. V.P. Vittachi was this week dumped as chairman of cash-rich Distilleries Co. of Sri Lanka by Harry J who took over coolly informing shareholders that Vittachi didn’t come up for re-election.

The markets and shareholders are unlikely to grudge the change of seats because it was Jayawardene who drove growth at this group and a little known fact is that Vittachi hasn’t been attending board meetings in recent times in protest over the ‘illegal’ appointment of Damian Fernando, a Jayawardene protégée, to the Distilleries board.

It was Vittachi, Jayawardene, Zaki Alif and R.K Obeysekera who set up Stassens and now with the mentor gone, it’s a matter of time before Jayawardene goes for the ‘kill’ – in easing out Alif and Obeysekera or bringing them around to his kind of thinking. Relations have strained between Jayawardene and the trio, so much so that in February this year the group threatened to sue the business tycoon for not consulting others in business decisions. There has been little movement on the threatened action since then.

It was Vittachi, then chairman of Consolexpo (the government’s premier trading organization) who picked Jayawardene as a young tea worker and appointed him as Tea Manager at Consolexpo, incurring the wrath of then Trade Minister T.B. Ilangaratne (TBI). Vittachi stood upto TBI’s outburst saying the young man was capable.

So this is how the student repays the master. Not surprising in a nation that is fast losing its values. No one doubts that Jayawardene is a shrewd businessman except for the use of unconventional methods to succeed and two hoots for the law!

Copycats?
Plagiarism or copying is not a new phenomenon in Sri Lanka. You find it happening all the time in the way we copy western music, music programmes and pop shows and the like. Intellectual Property rights is a big issue and recently Sri Lankan authorities have been tightening the law on copyright while multinational firms are taking action against fake brands (garments) and films & music (video CDs and CDs), etc.

However when the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the country’s main financial regulator, is accused of copying, then it’s time to wake up. Upul Arunajith, a Sri Lankan commodity specialist who has lived in Canada for many years, is accusing the Central Bank and its governor of stealing a crude oil hedging proposal that he has been presenting to the authorities since 2001.

Arunajith says he met Ajith Nivard Cabraal before he became Central Bank governor and after and also the Bank’s Economic Research Director Dr H.N. Thenuwara – long before the Central Bank came up with its ‘own’ proposal on crude oil hedging. Apart from having documents and letters of correspondence plus detailed proposals, Arunajith has also picked holes in the CB proposal, simply saying “they don’t even understand what hedging is all about.” “Where were all these so-called experts when the country was paying through the nose for oil prices?” the angry commodities specialist asked.

The Sri Lankan is making a serious allegation which merits investigation by the highest in the land – particularly at a time when President Mahinda Rajapaksa wants skilled Sri Lankans overseas to come and help this country develop.

Policies
More out of unplanned action and policies, Sri Lankans may face some shortages of imported processed food when new price-tag rules coupled with restrictions on GM foods because effective from January 1, 2007. Price stickers are not permitted like what happens now. The rules on pricing mean all packaged food must carry the local maximum price at the point of entry in Sri Lanka.

There are two ways this could be done: firstly the overseas manufacturer must print the price on the tin or label at the point of dispatch or the local importer does that at the point of entry – Customs at the seaport or airport.

Both steps are impractical as our stories in this section point out. Printing the local price at the point of import raises many issues including is it viable to do it for a small market while the fluctuating rupee value against the dollar also creates problems. On the other, can you run a printing shop at the Customs to do this at the entry point?

Adding to the headaches of the importers are the new rules on GM food. While the intention is to protect the consumer by letting the consumer know that some products are GM-free, importers say it has caused many complications and may reduce the number of imported food into the country.

So here we are as we head into the final month of the year - a country of turmoil and unrest, of rampant corruption, of alleged copycats, of losing values and of lopsided policies. On the bright side, Sri Lankans are a resilient and capable lot making sure the country will continue to grow (in GDP terms which means nothing to the ordinary citizen) amidst rising cost of living and production.