Exclusive: BBC’s Londoner Who Applied GoSL’s Interest Free Loan Receives RS 8.5 Million Annual Salary!
By Colombo Telegraph -January 2, 2013

The letter issued by the Head of the BBC Sinhala Service Priyath Liyanage confirmed that Chandana Keerthi Bandara‘s annual salary is £41,000/- (Forty one thousand pounds). In the letter dated September 10, 2012 under the subject ‘Interest free loan for senior media workers’ addressed to the Director General, Government Information Department of Sri Lanka, Liyange said; “Mr Bandara is a permanent employee of the BBC World Service. He had been working in our London office as a permanent member of staff since 1995. His annual salary is £41,000/- (Forty one thousand pounds)” (Read the original letter below)

“I’m also investigating this whole loan and free laptop saga, but this is the first time I heard a person receiving such a massive salary applying for this loan. I’m fully aware of Sri Lankan journalists’ and editors’ salaries, but none of them receive anything close to this,” the activist further told.
“The issue is larger than media ethics. Sri Lankan journalists receive paltry salaries, usually between RS 10,000 and 40,000. Only few high profile editors receive higher salaries. The highest salary is even less than RS 4.2 million a year,” she added.