Former Deyata Kirula head files bribery charges

Claims over Rs 500 million allocated for the exhibition misappropriated:

Accuses Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, high ranking public officials:

by Ranil Wijayapala

Former Chief Executive of the Deyata Kirula Secretariat, Kanthi Gunawardana, has filed two complaints with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), accusing the former Deyata Kirula Exhibition Committee including Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya and high ranking public officials of alleged misuse and misappropriation of public funds amounting to Rs.500 million.

The funds had been allocated for the Deyata Kirula exhibition in Oyamaduwa and Ampara in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

Gunawardana, who herself was arrested on May 2, 2013 for allegedly misappropriating public funds amounting to Rs 40 million, and spent four months in remand prison without any charges being framed against her, has filed the two complaints -BC 2670/ 2015 and BC 2671/2015 - through her lawyer, Chula Bandara.

According to the two complaints, public funds amounting to Rs.500 million allocated for the Deyata Kirula exhibition had been spent not only in violation of the fiscal policy of the government but also by paying exorbitant amounts as expenditure of exhibition among a selected group of contractors.

Gunawardana’s complaint, based on information she had collected while performing her duties at the Executive Chief of the Secretariat, details how the exhibition committee had acted in violation of the national fiscal policy. It also draws attention to the fact that most of the tenders had been offered to contractors in violation of stipulated tender procedures, overlooking the lower bids.

Many of the high ranking officials in charge of the procurement committee of the exhibition has acted in blatant violation of the tender procedure of the government and acted according to the wishes of the Minister when performing their duties, she has alleged.

In many instances contractors have been paid in duplication for the services they were purported to deliver as published in the tender documents.

A special grade Sri Lanka Administrative Service official with 28 years of service, Gunawardana was also an Additional Secretary of the Telecommunication and Information Technology Ministry at the time she served as the Chief Executive of the Deyata Kirula Secretariat. Following the accusation she was interdicted from service for one and half months and reinstated late last year due to the absence of charges.