Govt. stumped by coal fraud :

SLFP leaders get tough on Paada Yaathra

The Paada Yaathra, organised by the UPFA rebel group last week, was a hot topic among SLFP seniors over the past few days with the party Central Committee deciding to initiate stern action against those who violated party discipline.

Before the SLFP Central Committee meeting on Thursday night, a group of SLFP seniors held several rounds of discussion with the President over the party’s future course of action in the light of the rebel group’s Paada Yaatra.

The primary focus of their discussions was to assess the real strength of the rebel group and how it would affect the SLFP at the next Local Government election.

“We all know that the Rajapaksa group is good at showing crowds and manipulating media. They showed crowds before the Presidential election but it did not translate into votes. The same trend was seen at the Parliamentary election where the party managed to secure only 95 seats. When they held rallies at various places there was significant crowd support but there was hardly any impact on the village level. So, it was important to assess the true strength of the rebel group before deciding our future course of action,” a senior SLFP Parliamentarian, who was privy to those discussions, told the Sunday Observer.

It was quite clear that the majority of SLFP seniors were livid at the unruly conduct of the rebel group’s supporters. The rebel group, which calls itself the ‘Joint Opposition’ (JO), particularly came under fire for hooting at the Party headquarters, at Darley Road, during the last stage of the Paada Yaathra march.

The party seniors’ patience was wearing thin and they insisted that stern action should be taken to instill discipline in the party and restructure it at the grassroots level. “Enough is enough” was the common sentiment among party seniors who discussed the matter with the President before the Central Committee meeting on Thursday. In this context, many assumed that Thursday’s meeting of the Central Committee would be characterized with fireworks.

Suspended

The committee appointed to investigate the coal tender issue handed over its findings to the Minister of Power and Renewable Energy, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, on Monday evening. Pic: ANCL Media Library

When the SLFP Central Committee met on Thursday night at the President’s House, the majority of committee members were on the same page about taking action against the rebel group.

They first discussed the matter of several Local Government representatives of the party burning the letters sent to them by the party headquarters, calling for interviews to assess their suitability to contest on the SLFP at the Local Government election. The Central Committee members said in no uncertain terms that burning the official letters sent by the party headquarters was a grave insult to the SLFP.

At this point, the party decided to initiate tough action against them. The Central Committee assigned the party’s Disciplinary Committee to take necessary action in this regard.

Meanwhile, a group of Central Committee members highlighted a statement made by Puttalam district MP Sanath Nishantha saying that the latter did not accept the leadership of party Chairman, President Maithripala Sirisena.

Nishantha had reportedly launched a verbal barrage against President Sirisena during a recent television show and its footage was widely shared on social media platforms.

Anura Yapa ducks

The Central Committee then unanimously decided to initiate disciplinary action immediately against MP Nisantha on the basis that there was sufficient evidence to prove that he had rejected President Maithripala Sirisena’s leadership. The Parliamentarian’s party membership was suspended ahead of a disciplinary inquiry into his conduct.

The Committee also agreed to entrust the Disciplinary Committee with the task of identifying those who insulted the party and its leadership during the Paada Yaatra protest march, launched by the Joint Opposition. A senior Parliamentarian of the party told the Sunday Observer that this inquiry would cover those who hooted at the party headquarters on the final day of the Paada Yaathra.

“On Thursday evening, we had two important meetings, one was with leading SLFP activists and the President on party reforms and the second meeting held later was the convening of the Central Committee,” said State Minister for Finance, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena at a media briefing held at the Ministry of Finance, on Friday, disclosing what happened at the Central Committee meeting.

MR’s excuse

“There needs to be discipline in a party. Members who hoot at or throw stones at the party headquarters cannot be its members. Those who did that to Sirikotha are still suffering,” Abeywardena also added. The minister’s remark again showed the SLFP’s disappointment over the conduct of the rebel group.

However, when the same matter was raised at the weekly Cabinet briefing on Wednesday, former SLFP General Secretary Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa ducked the questions saying he did not see the faces of those who hooted at the party headquarters!

Meanwhile, in an interesting turn of events, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who led the Paada Yaathra march when his supporters hooted at the party headquarters, came up with an excuse to defend their conduct.

“They should think as to why people hooted opposite the SLFP headquarters while being silent in respect of SLFP leaders and former Prime Ministers in front of the Bandaranaike Samadhi at Horagolla,” Rajapaksa said, speaking to a group of reporters, after a religious event at Abhayaramaya temple, Narahenpita. Rajapaksa’s ‘excuse’ made it clear that the act was well orchestrated and deliberate.

Restructuring

However, the SLFP’s rebels have already indicated that they would not cooperate with the party’s disciplinary inquiry process. Speaking to the Sunday Observer, UPFA MP Sanath Nishantha said he did nothing wrong and he would strongly stand-by his stance. This was a clear indication that the MP did not accept the party Central Committee’s decision on the matter.

Another rebel group MP, Dilum Amunugama, told a gathering in Kandy that they would take legal action against the SLFP if the party decided to suspend their membership. This shows that the gap between the two warring groups within the SLFP is widening.

The SLFP too, on the other hand, is preparing for a major but unavoidable split. Party General Secretary Duminda Dissanayake told media last week that the party had decided to embark on a major restructuring program. “Those who want to divide the party will anyway attempt to divide the party. We are not afraid of their efforts. We will proceed with our plans for restructuring,” Dissanyake told reporters, this week, speaking to reporters following the rebel group’s Paada Yaathra campaign.

“It is quite obvious that the rebel group wants to form a separate political party before the Local Government election. They are preparing the ground for that with campaigns such as the Paada Yaathra. The party, at this point, has to prepare for an inevitable split. That’s why we have opened the doors for new applicants. That’s why we have decided to fast track the restructuring program,” another SLFP Central Committee member told the Sunday Observer, on Saturday.

In response, the party’s Local Government representatives supporting former President Rajapaksa have already shown a hostile approach towards the party’s stance. Speaking to media a few days after the Paada Yaathra, former Mayor of Moratuwa, Samanlal Fernando said, they would not contest the forthcoming Local Government election on the SLFP ticket.

“We will contest the election under a broad political alliance under the leadership of former President Rajapaksa. We hope the SLFP too will join us,” Fernando said, expressing the sentiments of the LG members supporting the rebel group.

Actresses

Meanwhile, in another interesting turn of events, two actresses supporting the former President’s camp put their feet in the mouths when they attempted to show their solidarity with farcical remarks.

One of them was Geetha Kumarasinghe who also functions as an elected Parliamentarian of the UPFA.

Kumarasinghe, addressing a press briefing in Colombo a few days ago, said over 20 million people attended the Joint Opposition’s Paada Yaathra. Therefore, going by the reports released by the Department of Census of Statistics, one can safely come to the conclusion that the entire population of the country had taken part in the Paada Yaathra campaign!

“This is the power of the people. The government is afraid of the people’s support received by the Joint Opposition. All anti-government forces have now rallied around the Joint Opposition. Our supporters defied rain and many other difficulties to attend the Joint Opposition’s Paada Yaathra. That demonstrated the love they had for former President Rajapaksa,” Kumarasinghe said, boasting about the success of their political campaigns. However, none of the politicians present at the press conference stepped in to correct the Galle district Parliamentarian’s monumental blunder.

Oshadi Hewamadduma, another actress supporting the Joint Opposition campaign, made an equally farcical remark when she commented in public on the charges under which former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa was arrested.

“The former Economic Development Minister was arrested for distributing almanacs (litha). Why was he arrested for distributing almanacs? Almanac is an essential part of our culture. Under the guise of arresting Basil Rajapaksa, the government is attacking our culture and traditions!” the actress said, raising many an eyebrow.

Coal bombshell

Her farcical statement came under fire on social media platforms and it made a disastrous impact on the joint Opposition group’s propaganda campaign this week.

“Both these actress walked alongside former President Rajapaksa, when the latter attended the last stage of the Paada Yaathra rally at Town Hall junction in Colombo. When the former President has friends like them, he does not need enemies!” a senior SLFP Parliamentarian quipped, during one of the party’s ‘inner circle discussions’.

The recent bombshell reported in our sister paper, the Daily News, had the Ministry of Power and Energy reeling at the discovery that internal audit revealed a Rs. 300 million fraud in connection with the purchase of coal for the Lakvijaya Plant in Norochcholai.

Transparency groups now claim that the Right to Information Bill (RTI) has to be implemented as fast as possible, to help good governance in situations like this, where the public would need more information to understand the depths of an alleged crime. One concerned party told the Sunday Observer that what was necessary in this case was quick access to copies of the contract, invoices, bills of lading, quality certificates at load and discharge ports and the letters of credit. Analysing these documents, one could get to the bottom of how this manipulation was orchestrated.

Informed sources said that there was a difference between the requirement stipulated in the tender document and the signed contract. In the signed contract, formulas for the penalty for high sulphur and high ash contents in the coal supplies had been surreptitiously altered to the advantage of the supplier.

In the case of high sulphur, the price adjustment formula has been tampered with i.e. where it had to be divided by 0.1 percent, the contract had stated it as 1 percent and in the case of ash content, the division which should have been by 1 percent had been adjusted to 10 percent, allowing the seller to understate the penalty by 90 percent.

The transparency activists say that this is clearly a matter for the bribery commission under section 70, as the public servants involved in this act have to be investigated.

Section 70 says that “any public servant who, with the intent, to cause wrongful or unlawful loss to the Government, or to confer a wrongful or unlawful benefit, favour or advantage on himself or any person, or with knowledge, that any wrongful or unlawful loss will be caused to any person or to the government, or that any wrongful or unlawful benefit, favour or advantage will be conferred on any person — a) does or forebears to do, any act, which he is empowered to do by virtue of his office as a public servant; b) induce any other public servant servant to perform, or refrain from performing, any act, which the other public servant is empowered to do by virtue of his office as a public servant; c) uses any information coming to his knowledge by virtue of his office as a public servant; d) participates in the making of any decision by virtue of his office as a public servant; e) induces any other person, by the use, whether directly or indirectly, of his office as a public servant to perform, or refrain from performing, any act; shall be guilty of the offense of corruption and shall upon summary trial and conviction by a magistrate be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to a fine not exceeding Rs. 100,000 or to both imprisonment and fine.”

Considering that such alterations had been accommodated in a contract between the seller, Liberty Commodities Limited and the Lanka Coal Company Pvt. Ltd, at the expense of the public having to bear the consequences, Transparency groups say that the public officials involved in this transaction have to take the fall. Especially due to the fact that proper checks and balances have not been made, by not sending the contract to be vetted by the Attorney General’s Department prior to signing; a required practice for transparency and good governance. They say that in public interests this matter has to be taken to the bribery commission for investigation.

Report to Minister

It was in this backdrop that the committee of three appointed to investigate the coal tender issue regarding the Norochcholai coal power plant, handed over its findings in a report to the Minister of Power and Renewable Energy, RanjithSiyambalapitiya, on Monday evening.

The committee comprising of K.K.Y. Perera, Lakshman R. Watawala and Janaka Ekanayake, was appointed by the minister last month to probe the issue. Many believe that the content of the committee report will be a key factor in determining the future of the coal controversy. The ministry has so far kept the content of the experts’ committee report as a closely guarded secret.

However, The findings of the reporting, according to highly placed ministry sources, will soon be produced in Parliament. The Auditor General is also scheduled to submit his report on the controversial coal tender to COPE within the next two weeks.

That report is being prepared at the request of the COPE. It is reported that the Audit had been submitted to the CEB from time to time since 2009 but the CEB has acted without taking the Auditor General’s recommendations into consideration. Many opine that the COPE report on the coal controversy will stir up a hornets’ nest, especially among political circles as many some believe that political power may have played a significant role in the whole issue.