Rs.18 Million Spent On Food Alone At Three Rajapaksa Functions
April 10, 2015
Funds worth Rs. 18,592,750 had been spent as food expenses alone at just three functions hosted by the Rajapaksas in 2010.
This was revealed through a random check by the Sri Lankan Airline Board of Inquiry team into the receipts and bills of Sri Lankan Catering on the expenses incurred by the institution for functions held at the President’s House.
The BOI inquiry into the financial misappropriations of the national carrier had found that the expenses had later been settled by the Presidential secretariat.
The BOI inquiry team has also probed into a series of donations made by the SLC in the forms of cash, material and cooked food worth Rs. 2,537,941 between 2010 -2014 for various government functions.
Listed below are the conspicuous expenses:
- 600 kg of rice worth Rs. 25,200 given to the President’s House on 4/5/2010
- Cash worth Rs.1,810, 654 given for the IIFA function on 29/6/2010
- Meal packs for children worth Rs. 702,087.00 given to the Chairman on 31/10/2012
- May Day lunch worth Rs. 330,000 given to Civil Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne 27/05/2014
The BOI inquiry report notes that the practice of the SLC resources being diverted to political activities is clearly established through the financial transactions they probed into and most of them had been approved by the CEO, causing a loss of the SLC.
While emphasizing the fact that there is no corporate culture for the management to ensure governance against external political interference, the Weliamuna report has recommended for steps to be taken to recover the losses caused or at least partially, from those who approved all the illegal payments.
