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| Sunday, 3 April 2005 |
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Vajiraramaya trustees concerned by Ananda Kannangara The administration of the Bambalapitiya Vajiraramaya Temple is vested under the guidance of the Adikari Thera (Chief Incumbent) and the Board of Trustees. It is unethical for the present Headmaster of the Vajiraramaya daham pasala to handle the collection of donations in an irregular manner, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Bambalapitiya Vajiraramaya temple, Dr. P.R. Anthonis in an interview with the Sunday Observer said. He made these remarks in response to several allegations made by some parents of pupils of Vajiraramaya daham pasala, that the present monk Headmaster Ven. Kamburugamuwe Mahanaga allegedly collects a colossal sum of money as charity regularly from students in an unauthorised manner. "These illegal collections are not audited and they are being utilised for his personal well-being," he said. He said that the Kathikawatha Temple has written by late Ven. Pelene Sri Vajiragnana Maha Thera and the then Board of Trustees in 1903. "Accordingly, no person shall collect funds or any other monies as charity in the name of the Temple without the approval granted by the Temple Nayaka Thera and the Board of Trustees." Ven. Naotunne Gunasiri, a pupil of Ven. Vagiraghana Maha Nayaka Thera is the present Nayaka Thera of the Vajiraramaya Temple, while Deshamannaya Dr. P.R. Anthonis, Dr. Ananda Zoysa, Harsha Soysa, Udara Thilakawardana and Sarath Karunaweera are the members of the Board of Trustees. Dr. Anthonis also mentioned that the daham pasala was started in 1930 and accused the Headmaster of collecting a large sum of money from many pupils coming from distant areas. According to the rules and regulations, donations should not be charged from students studying in the daham pasala. In some instances the monk Headmaster had insisted that the parents of children residing at places other than within Colombo City limits to pay large donations as in some schools in Colombo for enrolling their children to the Vajiraramaya daham pasala. "This is another unauthorised way of collecting funds by the monk Headmaster every year and this has badly affected the prestige of the Dhamma school," he said. He also said that they had evidence of some fraudulent receipts, issued to students by the management of the Dhamma school. Such donations are neither utilised to carry out any development activity of the Temple nor the Dhamma School. Although the funds, collected by the Nayaka Thera of the Temple and the Board of Trustees in a legal manner are audited by a registered audit firm, the colossal sum of money being collected by the Daham pasala is not audited and they are being utilised for their personal benefit. Though nearly 2000 children are presently studying in the Vajiraramaya daham pasala, the monk Headmaster is in the habit of providing wrong information to the Colombo Municipal Council to obtain money to provide for the mid-day meals for children. He also accused the monk Headmaster of collecting a large sum of money for the Temple pinkama by soliciting donations through sending letters to dayakayas which is prohibited by the Vajirarama Kathikawatha. "The pinkamas are organised by the trustees of the Vajiraramaya Karya Sadhaka Saba as laid down in the Kathikawatha," he added. |
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