Army loses Rs. 250 m in gold leaf project!

Monday, 16 February 2015 

The Sri Lanka Army had carried out a project, on the orders of the former defence secretary, to write the Tripitaka in gold leaves that were to be interred in the Ranaviru Seya, the ninth holy place, to be build in addition to the historic Atamasthana, by Mahinda and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. The Army had spent Rs. 250 million to buy 4,000 kg of gold for this project.

It had been carried out under the supervision of Army commander Lt. Gen. Daya Ratnayake, by Brig. Perera of the Army’s directorate of pay and record.

Initially, the Army had planned to obtain a Rs. 7,500 per gold leaf sponsorship, to be contributed to by businessmen, the general public and the soldiers. But, it had been a failure as no one had come forward to make a contribution, making the Army to bear the entire cost of the project.