• Lanka moves first to woo Vajpayee
• Postal protest over
• UNP tells Mendis - step down
• Sheik to seal UL deal
• Benz won't change my path, says Mahanayake
• 'Insulting and libellous'– Ranil
• Plantation firm refutes state media charges
• Clarke case likely to be dropped

Lanka moves first to woo Vajpayee

India will always respect the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka and will never support any separatist movement or encourage violence and terrorism, India's new Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee declared yesterday.

His assurance came when Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar met him in New Delhi yesterday morning after flying there as President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's special envoy. He was the first foreign dignitary to meet Premier Vajpayee after he took office on Thursday as the head of a coalition of some two dozen parties.

A statement issued by the Sri Lankan High Commission in New Delhi said Mr. Kadirgamar briefed the new Indian Premier on the recent bombing of the Dalada Maligawa in Kandy and civilians in Colombo.

He said more concentrated action should be taken to stop this particularly cruel manifestation of terrorism.

Mr. Vajpayee agreed whole-heartedly and assured no support for such activities would come from the govt. of India or from the state govt. of Tamil Nadu, the statement said.

During a meeting that was described as warm and cordial Mr. Vajpayee expressed the hope that relations between India and Sri Lanka would continue smoothly. He said he looked forward to closer cooperation in the economic field specially the establishment of more joint ventures in both countries. Mr. Vajpayee said he believed the process of SAPTA needed to be expedited and that SAARC should be strengthened . It was necessary to ensure that SAARC was not left behind as the rest of the world developed rapidly. He welcomed the close cooperation between Sri Lanka and India in various international fora and said he hoped such cooperation would continue.

On the question of the BJP's attitude to the LTTE Mr. Vajpayee reaffirmed the statement in the BJP manifesto that his party "supports a united Sri Lanka within which the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil people should be fully accommodated." He pledged India would always respect the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka and will never support any separatist movement and in no circumstances will it encourage violence and terrorism. The Prime Minister told Mr. Kadirgamar: 'Don't worry about Tamil Nadu and said he hoped that there would be an early solution to the problems in Sri Lanka. He looked forward to visiting Sri Lanka for the SAARC Summit.

Earlier in the day Mr. Kadirgamar called on .L.K. Advani, President of the BJP and the newly appointed Home Minister of India and was warmly received. Mr. Advani too assured the Foreign Minister that relations between India and Sri Lanka would continue smoothly. There would be no encouragement for any separatist movement or terrorism in any form. As the Minister of Home Affairs it was his duty to see that terrorism in India itself was eliminated.

Mr. Kadirgamar also called on Ms. Sonia Gandhi, the newly elected President of the Congress party. They exchanged views on the recently concluded Indian elections and Ms. Gandhi briefed the Foreign Minister on new developments in the Indian political scene. Ms. Gandhi who takes a close interest in Sri Lankan affairs was emphatic that no encouragement would be given as far as the Congress Party was concerned to any separatist movement in Sri Lanka and she and her party will in no circumstances condone violence and terrorism. Mr. Kadirgamar will be continuing his round of meetings with political leaders across the Indian political spectrum today.

Postal protest over

By Arshad M. Hadjirin

All postal trade unions yesterday decided to call off their nine day g- slow campaign after Deputy Minister M.S. Hizbullah intervened to settle the dispute, a union leader said.

N.P. Hettiarachchi General Secretary of the Union of Post and Telegraph Officers said normal work would be resumed from today to clear millions of letters and parcels that had piled up during the work to rule campaign.

The Union leader said all their demands relating to over-time payments and other facilities had been agreed to by the Deputy Minister.

Earlier the unions had held talks with the Post Ministry Secretary K. Logeswaran and Acting Postal Chief Padma Ranasinghe in the absence of Post Mistress General Soma Kotakadeniya who is out of the country. Those negotiations were not successful, "But Mr. Hizbullah did it," the union leader said.

UNP tells Mendis-step down

By Christopher Kamalendran

The UNP has decided to call for the resignation of ex-minister Wijeyapala Mendis from Parliament and from the other posts or positions he is holding, party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told The Sunday Times yesterday.

He said the party hierarchy had taken this decision amidst a growing controversy on the issue and that he would officially inform Mr. Mendis of it within the next few days.

Mr. Mendis however was still holding his ground and said yesterday he was confident a majority of UNP members would stand by him in the dispute. He said he had not been informed of any party decision to ask him to resign from Parliament, from his post as Chief Opposition Whip or from the policy - making Working Committee of the UNP.

The Sunday Times learns that especially the young members of the UNP have been putting pressure on the party to deal firmly with Mr. Mendis who was found guilty of abuse or misuse of power by a Special Presidential Commission which probed one of his big land deals when he was a minister.

While the UNP is boycotting Parliament in protest against recent political violence at Eppawala and elsewhere, the government last Tuesday introduced a motion in Parliament to strip Mr. Mendis of his civic rights for seven years and expel him from Parliament.

The SPC found Mr. Mendis guilty of exchanging 76 acres of paddy and shrub jungle land in Anuradhapura for the same extent of prime coconut land in Puttalam. Mr. Mendis who refused to appear before the commission has described the charges as nonsense. He said yesterday that if the UNP was going to accept the SPC report on his case, then it must also accept the reports of the Commissions which probed the Batalanda killings, the Vijaya Kumaratunga and Denzil Kobbekaduwa assassinations in which the names of top UNP members have been linked.

Sheik to seal UL deal

Emirates Airlines Chairman Sheik Ahamed Bin Said Al Maktoom is expected in Colombo next month to seal the controversial partnership between his Airlines and the national carrier AirLanka.

Benz won't change my path, says Mahanayake

By Shane Seneviratne

A leading Buddhist prelate has vowed he would not waver in his opposition to the devolution package even if he is given ten Benz cars.

The Mahanayake of the Malwatte chapter the Most Ven. Rambukwelle Sri Vipassi Thera said he had not in any way changed his views after a two hour meeting in Kandy with President Kumaratunga during which she handed over to him the keys of a brand new Benz Car valued at around Rs. 3.4 million.

The Mahanayake said that when he went for the meeting with Ms. Kumaratunga at President's House in Kandy, he had no idea she was going to offer him a new Benz car. But the President had insisted that the prelate was using an old car. She gave him a velvet box with another silver box in it containing the keys of the luxury Benz car which has among other things a stereo set up for compact discs.

A presidential driver drove the Mahanayake on the first ride to the prelate's residence. The Mahanayake Thera of the Asgiriya Chapter, the Most Ven. Palipane Chandananda Thera has also been given a similar Benz car. But he was not present at the meeting with the President and a representative accepted the gift.

The Mahanayakes of the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters have during the past years been in the forefront of opposition to government proposals for extensive devolution of powers to the provinces.

'Insulting and libellous'– Ranil

Opposition UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has asked Speaker K.B. Ratnayake to expunge from the official record what he describes as insulting and libellous allegations made against him during last Tuesday's debate in Parliament.

In a letter to the Speaker, giving recorded minutes of Cabinet proceedings, Mr. Wickremesinghe said he had not done anything unethical or improper whenever conflict of interest situations came up. He had declared the position openly and withdrawn from Cabinet proceedings. Mr. Wickremesinghe states:

"I note that in the course of the debate in Parliament last Tuesday on the motion to impose civic disabilities on Wijeyapala Mendis, Nimal Siripala de Silva (Minister of Health), Batty Weerakoon (Minister of Science and Technology) and Athauda Seneviratne (Dy Minister of Transport) have taken the opportunity of my temporary absence from the House to make certain references to my conduct, which are not only completely misconstrued and misleading but in violation of the Standing Orders of Parliament.

"As you would recall similar remarks were made on an earlier occasion to which I responded at that time. It was most unethical of these three MPs to have indulged in cheap political theatre, against all accepted conventions of Parliament. Furthermore The Daily News, the SLBC and Rupavahini - all acting as the official mouthpiece of the Government - have had a field day disseminating these malicious falsehoods to the public.

"Against this backdrop I set out below for your immediate attention, the correct position in regard to the allegations made against me.

1. That my father transferred land after the enactment of the Land Reforms Law.

"My father has never transferred land to me. In 1971 prior to Land Reforms Law, my mother gifted 50 acres of land to me. After the Land Reform Law was enacted she made two inter family transfers to other members of the family in terms of Section 14 of the Law. I was not a beneficiary of these transfers"

2. That as Chairman of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Economic Affairs, I selected Companies in which I had shares, to manage the regional plantation companies.

During the period referred to, the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Economic Affairs was the then Prime Minister, D.B Wijetunga. I functioned as a member of this Committee. The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Economics Affairs had no involvement what so ever in the selection of Management Companies. In fact it was the Ministry of Finance which functioned as the apex agency for this process. After applications for the management of the regional plantation companies were called for by the Government, a tender committee assisted by a Technical Evaluation Committee evaluated and assessed the tenders according to a detailed marketing scheme. Accordingly, 22 companies were selected. I was not involved at any stage in the selection of companies to manage state plantations. On the 29th of April 1992 the Minister of Finance presented a memorandum to the Cabinet relating to the awarding of management contracts for the state plantations. Given a possible conflict of interest situation, in keeping with established conventions, I declared my interests and withdrew from the proceedings. This is confirmed by the following extract from the minutes of that particular Cabinet meeting.

"Hon. Ranil Wikcremesinghe, Minister of Industries, Science and Technology disclosed his interest in one of the tendering firms and withdrew from the meeting while this item was being considered and was not a party to the decision".

3. Regarding the allegation that the management of 10,000 acres belonging to the Maskeliya Plantations had been entrusted to the Uva Western Plantation Company which is a subsidiary of Standard Trading (Pvt.) Limited, a company owned by me and my relatives, the position is as follows.

"Uva Western Plantation Company which was selected to manage Maskeliya Plantations presently held between John Keells Group and the Richard Peiris Group is not a subsidiary of Standard Trading (Pvt) Limited. In fact it was controlled and managed by Forbes & Walkers. Standard Trading amongst its many investments in the tea sector had a minority stake in Uva Western Plantation Company. Several other unconnected private and public companies such as the DFCC had investments in the enterprise. I have passive minority interest in Standard Trading. This along with all my other diverse financial interests is a matter of record in my Assets Declarations. No other members of my family had shares in this company. At no time did I participate in management or investment decision making of Standard Trading. Nor was I privy to Board and Policy Decisions of this Company.

4. That all coconut estates in the Kurunegala region are being managed by the Kurunegala Plantation Company owned by Lake House Investments Ltd., which is a company owned by me and my family members.

Kurunegala Regional Plantation Company is owned by the State and is managed by Lake House Plantation Limited. The majority shares of Lake House Plantations Limited are owned by Lake House Printers and Publishers Ltd., a public quoted company in which the Wijewardena family have a controlling stake. As the public company records will demonstrate, my mother and I have a small share holding in this company. This interest was declared at the cabinet meeting of April 29, 1992.

It is public knowledge that I come from a long established business family with diverse commercial interests built up through several generations of hard work and entrepreneurship. To a greater extent this base has enabled me to dedicate myself to serving the people without the pre-occupation of having to further enhance my personal fortunes. As a result, being sensitive to possible conflict of interest situations, I have at all times maintained transparency in my conduct and conformed to conventions that given such situations, I believe that the substance of this letter together with my record of public service bears this out.

In this context I find it insulting and libellous that my political opponents would dare to stoop so low as to accuse me of resorting to financial improprieties. Furthermore, it is indeed ironic and adds insult to injury that some of the honourable gentlemen who have chosen to act as my accusers can themselves ill afford to do so.

"In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, as the custodian of the privileges of all Members of Parliament I request that you as a matter of urgency, take action to expunge these offensive inaccuracies from Hansard."

Plantation firm refutes state media charges

A plantations management company, accused in the state media of being involved in murky, illegal or irregular land deals with Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, has strongly refuted the allegations which it says were based on factual errors and wrongful inferences from unrelated facts.

L.H. Plantations (Pvt) Ltd. in a detailed statement said the five-year contract it received was obtained through clearly defined, clearly competitive and clearly screened state procedures which had been approved by both the government and donor agencies such as the World Bank and the ADB.

The statement is as follows: "We refer to the spate of reports in Government controlled newspapers (such as The Daily News and Dinamina) on the alleged improprieties concerning companies associated with UNP opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe's family.

"These reports contain several factual errors as well as wrongful inferences drawn from unrelated "facts" and we would appreciate an opportunity to air this response.

Lake House Printers & Publishers Ltd., a quoted public company as the lead company, bid for the managing agency of the government owned and controlled Kurunegala Plantations Ltd. in 1992 when the then government called for open tenders of interest as per World Bank/Asian Development Bank advice on plantation sector privatisations.

A rigorous evaluation process followed over several months, conducted by the Plantations Restructuring Unit (PRU) of the Ministry of Finance, the key government agency entrusted with the privatization exercise.

About 50 public and private companies, both local and local with foreign collaborations, competed for the overall management contracts offered by the government.

After satisfying all the criteria which were set out transparently to all interested parties by the government, Lake House Printers & Publishers Ltd. was offered a 5-year management contract—this was a profit sharing agreement whereby any government stood to gain substantial funds (rather than the plantations being a burden on state coffers) if the managing agent made profits.

Quite apart from the fact that the Lake House Printers & Publishers Ltd. gained its management contract in a free and fair manner, Kurunegala Plantations Ltd., a wholly government owned company, is not owned by Lake House Investments Ltd., which in turn does not belong to Ranil Wickremesinghe, although his immediate family - along with other members of the general public - have a minority share holding in this publicly listed company.

LH Plantations (Pvt.) Ltd. was subsequently formed as a subsidiary of Lake House Printers & Publishers Ltd. to exclusively manage Kurunegala Plantations Ltd. in line with the requirements of the privatized process. That company then employed personnel of proven ability to ensure that the best possible techniques and strategies were employed.

Mr. Wickremesinghe has never owned a single share of Kurunegala Plantations Ltd., nor has any shareholder of L. H. Plantations (Pvt.) Ltd. had any ownership of Kurunegala Plantations Ltd. It is therefore not possible for Mr. Wickremesinghe to benefit from such a nonexistent arrangement.

Mr. Wickremesinghe's mother has 0.047% (i.e. less than half of one percent) holding in L. H. Plantations (Pvt.) Ltd., the managing agent of Kurunegala Plantations Ltd., and thus cannot be deemed as a significant beneficiary in any manner.

The Daily News Editorial (p.8) of March 19 titled 'The Great Land Robbery" makes reference to alleged improper land deals surrounding Mr. Wickremesinghe and his kith and kin and comments on Horagolla properties of the Bandaranaike family being in the hands of Mr. Wickremesinghe's family.

L. H. Plantations (Pvt.) Ltd. had no hand whatsoever in the delineation of Horagolla lands belonging to the Janatha Estates Development Board (JEDB) after the Land Reform Commission (LRC) and at the time of privatization: these lands were amongst hundreds of other formerly private as well as crown lands entrusted via several estate divisions covering 16,000 acres to the managing agent.

It is pertinent to note that merely being a relative of Ranil Wickremesinghe should not be taken to imply that the management of L. H. Plantations (Pvt.) Ltd. sought in any way to secure state lands for personal profit; nor would it mean that such a company was incapable of managing state lands properly, honestly and profitably for the good of the State, the country and the company.

Indeed, all the evidence is to the contrary; we would add that L. H. Plantations (Pvt.) Ltd. has contributed well over Rs. 56 million to the governments of this country over the last years in a clearly defined profit sharing agreement. Thus, the State and the agricultural sector have considerably benefited financially as well as agriculturally from our management.

The front page Daily News report of March 20 titled "More About Ranil's Involvement In Land Transactions" alleges that Mr. Wickremesinghe "Handed over" Kurunegala Plantations Ltd. to L. H. Plantations (Pvt.) Ltd. As we have stated above, this transaction was not a murky, illegal and irregular action; rather the right to the managing contract was obtained through clearly defined, clearly competitive and clearly screened state procedures.

It is pertinent to mention that at the outset the World Bank sent an independent consultant to evaluate the mode of selection for the managing agents and no adverse comments were communicated. Moreover, the present Government appointed a select committee headed by A. S. Jayawardena (who was then the Secretary to the Treasury) to investigate the selection of managing agents and in the absence of any adverse comments, it could be reasonably assumed that the process was duly conducted in an acceptable manner.

We would refer any interested party to examine the text of the privatization agreements between the Government, the donor agencies and our company, L. H. Plantations (Pvt.) Ltd. for clarity.

Furthermore, D. V. Gunatunga, a shareholder and director of L. H. Plantations (Pvt.) Ltd. is not a brother-in-law of Mr. Wickremesinghe's mother (or any relative there of), as wrongly stated in this article."

Clarke case likely to be dropped

By Imran Vittachi

The probe into child-sex charges made by a British tabloid against space prophet Arthur C. Clarke has yielded no evidence and will probably be called off, according to the Attorney-General's Department.

Police investigators have referred the case to the Attorney General for a ruling, but it will probably soon be dropped, Additional Solicitor-General C.R. De Silva told The Sunday Times.

"As it stands now, this appears to be the case,"Mr. De Silva, who is handling the case, said yesterday. Three out of four persons named by the London Sunday Mirror in a series of articles splashed last month— which alleged that Dr. Clarke had admitted in an interview to being a paedophile — in statements given to police denied having made on-the-record claims to back those allegations, Mr. De Silva said.

Two men — reportedly preyed on by Dr. Clarke when they were boys — rejected the newspaper's allegations that they knew the space visionary at all, if not intimately, the ASG said. He added that a state-radio broadcaster also denied having told a Sunday Mirror correspondent how he used to supply Dr. Clarke with male minors.

The celebrated octogenarian, now confined to a wheelchair, has strongly denied the tabloid's allegations, which broke last month and has since threatened to sue the paper over them.

But, despite the ASG and Deputy Inspector General of Police M.S.M. Nizam saying no evidence has been found so far to substantiate The Mirror's claims, a critical question lingers. The tabloid has maintained it has a cassette recording of Dr. Clarke voicing his admission about enjoying the company of underage boys.

When pressed on this point, D.I.G. Nizam said his department would continue to probe into those allegations should The Sunday Mirror and Graham Johnson, the reporter who broke the story, produce the tape as evidence.

"Three persons named in The Sunday Mirror article have denied making such statements," DIG Nizam told. Police were unable to trace the whereabouts of the fourth person named in The Sunday Mirror articles, the D.I.G. added.