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The bond commision is now being accused of concealing information of others involved in the scam while making former Minister Ravi Karunanayake the only accused.

Executive Director of the Campaign for Free & Fair Elections, Rajith Keerthi Tennekoon has expressed his concerns on the matter in a released statement.

“It is clear that the President has simply re-disclosed the name of Karunanayake while hiding the names of many others from active politics who are involved in the issue,” he said.

According to him the bond scam cannot be an act of a single politician but have been committed with the direct and indirect help of others.

 Playing without a trump card!

“President playing a game of words”

Meanwhile positing a statement regarding the report Journalist Subhash Jayawardene had said while the report has not been published yet the President has presented the public with selected information allegedly taken from the report.

“It appears that the fate of a man playing without a trump card has befallen the President as well,” he said adding that according to the statement a large fraud has not taken place on February 27, 2015, with a mere Rs. 600 Million profit was earned.

According to him, the report fails to mention how Perpetual earned the undue profit while also failing to declare it as illegal earnings. He also expressed his doubts regarding recovering the loss due to the country not having adequate laws while new laws cannot be backdated.

While the governor's fault has been identified however the legal system is set to fail as he points out as the country has no laws about insider trading. According to him, the government will have to merely admonish Mahendran as a parent does to a child who had made a mistake.

The journalist while claiming he thinks the report is a mere farce he went on to say the President has played a game of mere words with the public.

The Bond Commission in its report has recommended that all bond issues since 2008 - 2015 should be investigated, President Maithripala Sirisena said today.

“As the Commission did not have the mandate to inquire into Treasury bond issues from 2008 to 2015, the Commission had not done that. However, Commission recommends that there should be an investigation into that period too” Sirisena said.

According to the President, the commission has recommended that the loss incurred by the government should be repaid by Perpetual Treasuries Ltd. and that both the main political parties have been taken to task by the report.

The President also announced that in the report the commission has asked for a court audit to be carried out on all bond issues since 2008 as it has identified possible irregularities during the processes.

Sirisena also announced that 17 reports received by him from the Presidential Commission to Inquire and Investigate into Serious Acts of Fraud and Corruption (PRECIFAC) has been handed over to the Attorney General for legal action and a further 17 reports will be handed over to him shortly.

 Prime Minister’s actions proper

 The Commission report had said that Prime Minister’s responsibility in the appointment of Arjuna Mahendran as the governor to the Central Bank was proper. According to the President, the Commission said the Prime Minister had made his statement in Parliament regarding the appointment of Mahendran believing in the facts presented by Mahendran and Samarasiri, especially on the promises made by Mahendran. “The Report also says that the Prime Minister should not have done that,” Sirisena said.

Loss of Rs. 11 000 Million

The President also said that Perpetual had made earnings of over Rs. 11 000 Million in an undue manner as found out by the commission. According to the President, the commission has recommended that costs of the commission and the loss incurred by the government should be recovered from Perpetual Treasuries.

The report had also stated that Perpetual Treasuries Ltd had made profits through illegal means with the involvement of Arjuna Mahendran, Bank officials and some outside individuals. It stated that senior officials of the Central Bank were also inactive before the former Governor of Central Bank, Arjuna Mahendran. The report also accused Mahendran of interfering to bond auctions through a system of incorrect and unconventional methods and that he is responsible for providing internal information to outsiders.

Both main parties accused

While stating that the commission was not appointed for any political advantage adding that both parties have been taken to task by the commission and no party has been singled out.

Legal action against Ravi K

The President also said laws have to be amended to take action for bribery related to the bond issue and steps have already been taken in this regard.

Meanwhile the Commission report referring to the allegation against former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake regarding the payment of rent for the penthouse apartment belonging to the Aloysius Family and their Walt and Rowe Company stated that Karunanayake was responsible for that and recommended that the government take necessary action against Ravi Karunanayake under the section of bribery and corruption and further legal action under the penal codes for giving false evidence at the Commission.

 Presidents Special Statement

(Video)

In related news

 UNP wants Greek Bond Scam Investigated

Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayaka said the case involving the killing of five Tamil students in Trincomalee was now progressing as new reforms have allowed the used of Skype evidence.

"We could not proceed with the case as the main witness was overseas and was not in a position to support proceedings. The case is now progressing as new reforms have allowed the use of Skype evidence," Ratnayaka said, on Twitter, on Thursday.

The Minister made this revelation while responding to a tweet by US Ambassador Atul Keshap on the same matter. "Justice delayed is justice denied," the US Ambassador said, referring to the delays in the case.

The five Tamil students selected for university were killed On January 2, 2006, in Trincomalee, allegedly by a Police Special Task Force group. Twelve STF officers were later arrested by the Police in connections with the killings.

Dr. Kasipillai Manoharan, the father of one of the five students, attended the UN Human Rights Council annual review meeting in March 2013 to demand justice for the murders.

Kasippillai Manoharan, in his speech said, "My son Rajigar is one of the five university students assassinated at Trincomalee. On behalf of the five students I am asking justice. Seven years have gone after the brutal killings of the students, but so far justice was not served." A visibly shaken Manoharan broke down in tears while speaking at the UNHRC annual review meeting.

In Sri Lanka, however, the authorities found it hard to proceed with the case for a long time as Dr. Manoharan, a key witness in the case, was overseas and was not in a support proceedings.

- A loss of LKR 11 billion

- Arjun misused his power

- Prime Minister to bear some responsibility

- Bribery Commission to investigate Ravi K.

 The recommendations made by the commission appointed to investigate the bond issue has been revealed to isis.lk.

According to information received the recommendations will also be included in the statement which is set to be made by President Maithripala Sirisena on the report.

The report has revealed that through the bond issue, Perpetual Treasuries Ltd. has earned around Rs. 11 Billion in a devious manner. According to the report, the previous governor of the Central Bank Arjuna Mahendran has misused his power in this matter while it also points out that the Prime Minister is also responsible in appointing such a person for the position. It has recommended that the loss incurred by the government should be paid by those involved.

The commission has also recommended that a separate investigation by the Bribery commission should commence regarding the Former Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayake's dealings with the accused and obtaining a luxury house from them.

Reports say the special statement made by the President has already been recorded and will be released to all media outlets today evening.

The Indian government is planning to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sri Lanka for cooperation in areas of traditional systems of medicine and Homeopathy.

The proposed MoU will be signed between Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine and India’s Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH).

The Mou will foster cooperation in the promotion and regulation of teaching practice, drugs and drug-less therapies, traditional medicine and homeopathy.

The MoU will also provide for the exchange of experts for the training of practitioners, paramedics and scientists.

It will also facilitate the accommodation of interested students in institutions for research and educational training programmes on traditional medicine.

Source: PIB

State Minister of Law and Order, Piyasena Gamage is said to have acted in a shameless and disruptive manner at the Nagoda Police station on January 1 while violating everything the Yahapalana government stands for.

Apparently the Minister had acted in this manner against officers of the Traffic division of the Nagoda Police station for issuing fines to several supporters of the Minister for not wearing helmets while travelling on a motorcycles.

Sources say the Minister had also attempted to assault one of the officers who had issued the fine notices while berating them in abusive language unfit for an individual of his station. He is also said to have demanded that the fine notices be taken back.

Meanwhile, the Minister is also said to have ordered for STF protection to be given to his son despite according to normal procedure intelligence and security reports are scrutinized before providing STF security to a person.

The UK government’s development finance institution CDC has launched a new independent solar and wind generation company to focus on India and neighbouring South Asian nations.

Ayana Renewable Power, entirely funded by CDC, will develop “hundreds of megawatts” of generational capacity with a focus on India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar.

Managing Director and CEO of Ayana Renewable Power Shivanand Nimbargi said that “Ayana’s strategic vision is to create significant renewable power generating capacity across South Asia, complementing it with a development agenda which reaches out to communities near locations where such capacity has been created.”

As per the 2018 Blue-Green Budget unveiled last year by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, Sri Lanka intends to facilitate the diversification of the economy with the adoption of new and sustainable technologies.

The Tourist Police with the assistance of the Local Government bodies, the Tourism Development Authority and the Tourist Board are to conduct raids on restaurants, villas and tourist lodges in the southern tourist belt that cater only to foreigners and discriminate against Sri Lankans under the directive of the Local Government and Provincial Councils Minister Faizer Mustapha.

The Management of tourist facilities who were found discriminative on Sri Lankans during the raids will be prosecuted under the common law and Tourist Promotion law and their trade permits will be withdrawn.

A crucial discussion was held at the Local Government and Provincial Councils Ministry chaired by Minister Musthapha, took this decision to prevent what he described as the outcome of a ‘slavish or colonial mentality’.

Minister Musthapha pointed out that a large number of villas, restaurants and tourist lodges from Wadduwa to Tangalle have put up boards ‘Tourist Only’ in front of their facilities on the Southern Coast and restricted access to Sri Lankans which is a violation of the Constitution, human rights and confronts the dignity and self respect of Sri Lankans.

Officials of the Tourist Board and Tourism Development Authority pointed out that many of these establishments had not been duly registered with the Tourist Board and run on a ‘Trade License’ obtained from the local government authority which is also illegal.

 The villas, lodges and restaurants discriminative on Sri Lankans were run mainly in Wadduwa, Hikkaduwa, Galle, Mirissa, Weligama, Habaraduwa and Unawatuna, it was revealed. Raids will be started from tomorrow (4) and continue until all those tourist facilities discriminative against Sri Lanka tourists are apprehended and prosecuted. Officials of the Tourist Police will carry out raids with the help of officials of the respective local government body, Tourism Promotion Authority and Sri Lanka Tourist Board.

The programme to eliminate this discrimination against Sri Lankans will be expanded to tourist areas in other parts of the country with the experience gained from these raids, Minister Musthapha added.

It was also revealed at the discussion that some tourist facilities with ‘Foreigners Only’ tag are owned by foreigners and they do not pay taxes and income is taken out of the country without any contribution to the tourist industry or to the economy.

It was also revealed that there are 14 tourist villas and restaurants at Weligama alone that cater only to foreigners.

A senior police officer pointed out that a person or establishment that discriminates against a Sri Lankan can be prosecuted under the provisions of the Constitution and Criminal Code.

Source : Daily News

The signing of the agreement for the stage II of 1990 Suwasariya Ambulance Service was held at Temple Trees under the patronage of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The MoU to expand the service was signed by Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Sri Lankan Deputy Minister for National Policies Dr. Harsha De Silva in Colombo on Wednesday afternoon.

The service will be operated with an Indian grant of US $ 15.2 million.

As per the MOU, Indian company GVK will provide 209 ambulances and train around 1300 Sri Lankan personnel in emergency health care.

Through Stage I, India had provided 88 ambulances at a grant of US $ 7.56 million for services in Western and Southern provinces.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday made an inspection tour of the mega Port City which is being constructed close to the Colombo Harbour in the island country's capital.

The Colombo Port City, which will be the first of its kind in South Asia, is being constructed by China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd.(CHEC).

Wickremesinghe, who was accompanied by several ministers, was briefed by the Port City management on the overall project and the present stage of construction.

This project which is also expected to be a financial center, will convert Sri Lanka into a global hub in the region, Wickremesinghe told reporters at the site of construction.

"The CHEC is reclaiming land from the sea to construct this city and we must make use of it. In the future, this Port City will have at least 75,000 people residing here and 200,000 people moving in and out of the city on a daily basis," Wickremesinghe added.

The prime minister added that the Colombo Port City will have many facilities and bring in new life to the Sri Lankan economy.

"The Colombo Port City will be one of a kind and we thank CHEC and the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry for their dedicated work towards the Port City," the prime minister said.

The Colombo Port City, launched in September 2014, will have many unique features such as a strong solar and wind power system, waste recycling and a treatment to harvest rain water.

There will be several pedestrians and cycle lanes while the city will be connected to Colombo through a Light Rail Transport system.

The Port City will also include residential buildings, schools, banks, shopping malls, a marina, parks, hotels and public beaches.

Once completed, the projected is expected to attract 15 billion U.S. dollars worth of investment into Sri Lanka.

(Xinhua)

12 Indian fishermen were nabbed along with two boats by the Sri Lankan Navy today near the Delft Island.

The apprehended fishermen were natives of Rameswaram district of Tamil Nadu, the Navy reported.

On December 31 last year, 13 Indian fishermen were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy near Gulf of Mannar in Rameswaram.

Earlier that month, 27 Indian fishermen were apprehended with five boats near Delft Island.

Concerns have been raised within business circles over the credibility of the Malaysian bidder for several assets of the EAP Group’s ETI subsidiaries.

It is reported that Malaysian businessman Sudhir Jayaram’s Straits Grid Pte Ltd., is leading a consortium of interested parties to bid for EAP Group’s television/media, cinemas, hotels, jewellery and financial services businesses. The five businesses are carried out by subsidiaries of Edirisinghe Trust Investments (ETI). Sudhir has submitted a bid worth $ 60 million (over Rs. 9 billion). Sources said there had been several rounds of negotiations on the deal prior to the ETI and other finance company Swarnamahal Financial Services Plc which were brought under the Central Bank’s purview yesterday.

Concerns are being raised over Jayaram due to a host of matters including alleged criminal acts such as money laundering. In November he was nabbed at the Bandaranaike International Airport prior to his departure with $ 50,000 in undeclared currency. His son and another individual also had $ 50,000 each in their possession while the fourth person carried $ 58,000. Thanks to political influence Jayaram was released without any penalty. Some said authorities have launched a full scale probe over the incident.

Jayaram is also part of the consortium, which includes SupremeSAT fame R. M. Manivannan, engaged in the $ 250 million Horton Square mixed development project at Colombo 7, which the Prime Minister-chaired Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) has raised various questions over.

Jayaram was also named in the United Nations investigation into the famous Iraqi oil-for-food scandal in late 2000.

Concerns include whether the Central Bank will allow a party with alleged questionable character and allegations to run a deposit taking finance company i.e. Swarnamahal Financial Services. Doubts are also being raised over whether the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) will issue a “no objection” letter to change the name of the owner of the frequency leased to Swarnavahini of the EAP Group. This is in the event Jayaram and his partners succeed in manoeuvring the EAP deal in their favour using political clout.

Other sources noted that with ETI and SFS being brought under direct purview of the Central Bank, fresh negotiations and bids may be sought. However the Central Bank has been in the know of the bid by Sudhir and questionable credentials of his consortium.

CB Chief details new investor negotiations

Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy yesterday, without disclosing names, said that there was a potential investor for ETI and negotiations have been ongoing.

“They initially reached a figure of $ 60 million to buy all nine subsidiaries which will leave only EFIF, and now that offer has gone up to $ 75 million net. While there is $ 75 million of fresh infusion of capital, one also has to take into account that the same party has given a loan of Rs. 400 million ($ 2.6 million) as liquidity support to ETFI and they are writing off that loan. In addition, they are going to take over SFSP, which has a negative net worth of Rs. 1.2 billion ($ 8 million). All together there is about $ 85 million worth of infusion in total,” he added.

Refraining from revealing the name of the company as the owners were negotiating with the investor, Dr.Coomaraswamy said: “It is a locally incorporated company. It is up to the owners to negotiate with the investors. Our responsibility is make sure the valuation of the assets of the company is sufficiently high to be fair by the depositors.”

For the last four to five months the potential investor has kept the company going by infusing Rs. 400 million and he has completed a due diligence. Therefore now the Monetary Board has to take a call on this $ 75 million fresh infusion, which he said the Monetary Board would make a decision on in a couple of days at the next meeting.

On top of that, he said the Central Bank was negotiating with a bank to have a safety net of a guaranteed standby credit line of about Rs. 5 billion as well. “It will be a loan to the company.”

Asserting that the Central Bank was doing the due diligence, he said there were two factors that are important, which is proof of funds and the fact that money must come from bank to bank.

“Those are the two conditions we have,” he said.

“Other companies that are facing problems are not as asset-rich as this company. That is why we are having such difficulties in getting investors into some of the other companies. Here there is an investor who is willing to pay a fairly reasonable price.”

Source : Daily FT