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| Sunday, 3 July 2005 |
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Straight talk by Lal Gunesekera Name change for S. Thomas' Mount Lavinia and Gurutalawa A big portion of the grounds at S Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia is to be taken over for the extension of the Marine Drive that is now under construction from Bambalapitiya. This ground is utilised for both cricket and hockey, while rugby practices too are conducted here. I understand that S. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa with nearly 1,700 students is to be shifted to the premises of the Deaf and Blind School at Ratmalana with the latter moving to Gurutalawa. The grounds at Ratmalana is to be used for cricket by S. Thomas'. The moves are yet in the initial stages with a high powered committee appointed to go into the pros and cons of this move, and if it materialises, S. Thomas' is to be known as the S. Thomas' Mount Lavinia Campus and S. Thomas' Gurutalawa Campus. Contracts not extended? The Interim Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has "shown the door" to two more of its officials - Ray Illangakoon (Media Manager) and Sudath Pasqual (manager, tournaments and umpires). Their contracts have not been renewed, but the Chairman of the Interim Committee, Jayantha Dharmadasa, denies that the contracts of Illangakoon and Pasqual have not been extended, but the acting CEO of SLC, Bandula Warnapura, says that he was told to send out letters to the affect that the contracts of these two personalities will not be extended. Who is correct? Sri Lanka's team manager, Brendon Kuruppu, was the first casualty and then the Interim Committee replaced Aravinda de Silva with Arjuna Ranatunga (now a MP and Deputy Minister of Tourism) in the ICC Cricket Committee as well as in the SLC Cricket Development Committee. Also "out" is the Secretary of Cricket-Aid and two peons. News has it that Premasara Epasinghe too is to "get the chop" with his contract too not going to be extended. Also down the grapevine is the news that Hashan Tillekeratne who heads Cricket - Aid now is not going to last long. :When will this "witch hunt" end? Luxury vehicle I understand that a luxury vehicle valued at Rs. 6.5 million has been spent by the Interim Committee for Tom Moody from the Rs. 10 million given by the National Insurance Corporation as an advance from the Rs. 47 million due to the Galle International Stadium that was badly damaged by the Boxing Day tsunami. I also understand that the employees of the Galle Stadium have not been paid their salaries for the past four months. Derwin's waterloo Dervin Perera (Deputy Director of Sports) and three others from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, are to be "suspended" on charges of corruption made against them by the Presidential Investigation Unit (PIU), while rebuking four others including its Director - General Milton Amarasinghe. They are to be interdicted without the payment of salaries. They are alleged to have violated tender procedure, favours in allocating tenders resulting in heavy losses to the Ministry and malpractice in printing certificates for the 2002 Sports Festivals. The PIU also say that there is "rampant corruption" in the administration of the Sports Development headed by Milton Amarasinghe. TT hit by tsunami Most controlling bodies are already preparing for next year's South Asian Games to be staged in Sri Lanka in April, but it is highly unlikely that the Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka (TTASL) will be able to keep to their schedule. The reasons are many. They are already facing financial difficulties and add to their misery, are now minus an office and even a place for training. The existing office complex at the old Race Course has been "taken over" by the Colombo Municipal Council for tsunami relief work. When will it be handed back to the TTASL ? Exorbitant taxes The Amateur Rowing Association of Sri Lanka (ARASL) is hindered by having to pay exorbitant taxes when importing rowing equipment. Earlier, the imports were treated as a commercial basis, but now the ARASL have appealed to the authorities concerned to consider granting a reasonable tax relief as these are sports equipment and not meant for commercial purposes. At the South Asian Games in Islamabad in 2002, only three countries took part in rowing (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), but for next year's Games, Bangladesh and Afganistan too will compete for honours at the Bolgoda lake. A former president of the ARASL, Rohan Fernando, who is yet one of its key officials, is confident that his father-in-law, Minister of Finance, Sarath Amunugama, will consider this appeal favourably. To hell with neighbours The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) authorities have confirmed that the CR & FC have illegally lowered the public drain running behind its club house, which does not leave enough of room for water to flow freely, thereby flooding certain houses situated close proximity during heavy rains. Complaints have fallen on deaf ears so far, but now the CMC, who have seen and confirmed this unorthorised action on the part of the CR & FC, are to write to this Colombo 7 club officially to rectify this matter. I wonder if it will happen at all ? "To hell with our neighbours" seems to be the arrogant slogan of the CR & FC these days with these neighbours all tensed up whenever there is a heavy down pour, fearing that water will come into their homes. |
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