It is all over bar the shouting! – 2015 Presidential Elections – Let it be a history lesson for the illiterate

There is a great Sinhala expression that says “sobadharmayath thekka sellam baha” which in essence says, that you cannot mess with the natural order of things, and if you do, you will pay dearly for your arrogance.

The incumbent President, who hoped to be known as the President for Life, will have to commit suicide, in the next 7 days, in order to keep that title for posterity!

The game is over but for the counting on Election Day. The President has received the results of the postal votes, and even the great Army to whom much of the budget has been allocated has failed him, voting in a majority against him. It is just the other Govt. servants in their uneducated state, who have been drunk with their motorbikes and the time wasting 600,000 jobs they received in the past 10 years who have still stood by him as far as the postal count is concerned. He fell on his own petard, at a moment he seemed invincible as shown in my previous blog entry.

Nobody wants to back a loser, and all those who switched to the Govt. Side for money will not be sleeping at night, as the list of how much each has received from the people’s money has already been handed and upon the announcement of the results, they will ALL be asked to return their ill-gotten gains, on the presumption that they have received stolen money. So the likes of Tissa Attanayake will have to even hand over the clothes he has on, if he is to avoid being locked up!

The Fat Lady has sung, and bringing Salman Khan over was the final act of a Marie Antoinette administration, that spiced the news lately with him saying that MR was a great man, and in the same breadth, Namal saying that he had NOT been paid a red cent to come! Get a life, know when it is best to stop making a fool of yourself.

My blog has over the years attempted to show the reader, the ridiculous direction that the administration has been taking. So I do not want to repeat what was said, except to say that it is only now most of what I have been saying for years, has been said in the press by those who have abandoned ship, and those who have NOW got the courage to speak up, and call a spade a spade! Not a club!

It is now up to the incoming administration to deliver on the promises. That is the hardest part. We have been fooled and lied to for so long, and the leaders have believed their own lies all this time, that they can continue to lie with a straight face.

Many of those who have come have not changed their colors, just their sides, and are singing a different tune, explaining somewhat dishonestly, why they hung on for so long before turning themselves in! It is best they fully explain their complicity in crime, and seek atonement before being fully rehabilitated into the fold of the new administration. That is because a bunch of opportunist rogues have also turned in.

The only people who deserve a mention, are the long suffering UNP rank and file carder who stood by their leader, through thick and thin, and under very trying and life threatening circumstances, been reduced to penury, for their belief in principles, who are the heroes here. Right now they are not getting as much of the credit, as the enablers are. It is time the people are made fully aware of the real reason, and the inner strength of a mass of forgotten humanity, who have been the foundation of this revolution, and I hope the new leadership will give them the credit they deserve for this quiet but firm revolution, to regain Sri Lanka from Dictatorship, back to Democracy, within an unthinkably short transition period, since the Election itself was announced.

The least the incumbent should do to keep his dignity is bow out gracefully and wish the new administration, as it is done, NOT with malice, but with the intention of returning the basic, and lost checks and balances, that prevent a few individuals from destroying a whole country.

100 Day plan as set out in the policy document by the Sirisena camp is all well and good, however the immediate task is how to reduce the staggering debt, that last administration has burdened the Country with.

There is NO option but to look at each loan in its commonsense reality. These are mainly project finance loans from China’s Ex Im Bank. Therefore they WILL NOT affect Sri Lanka’s sovereign debt rating. Simply tell the lenders, you have lent on a project that should have cost for example US$200M and not US$500M and so we will ONLY repay US$200M and you can collect the balance if you wish from the people who you dealt with who have obviously walked out with the loot.

In this way, we will repay on the value of the contracts, NOT the total loans. I suspect we can save US$5Billion within 30 days of coming to power, and the Chinese can go after the Rajapaksa’s to get their balance, as they are the ones who wired the money to offshore accounts, and know where they sent it to also!

In this way the Rs100B cost of the promises made by the new administration for the first 6 months of their rule can be met without a further burden on the treasury.

That said, let us hope there is no infighting for positions of power, and the new PM is allowed sufficient leeway in determining his cabinet, so that at least in the interim, until the General Elections are held in May 2015, we can have a corruption free administration, that is putting waste and excess spending under control, and investigate those who have dipped their hands in public coffers and ask them to return their ill-gotten gains, to avoid prosecution, and allow immunity to those who surrender a certain proportion of their loot.

If there is transparency in this activity, the people will have confidence in the administration’s undertaking to clean up as soon as possible, while taking the time necessary to set up the necessary mechanisms, to ensure that good governance and law and order are established with transparency as promised.

THE COUNTRY MUST SEE A CHANGE almost immediately from the previous state of things. Arrogance must be the first to see the back of, as that is the root of dictatorial behavior. There should be NO revenge on those who messed things up, just a polite request to return the loot!!! So it is wrong to put someone like the General in charge of Defense! As an example of what NOT TO DO.

Things look rosy for Sri Lanka in 2015, if we have a commonsense Administration, who don’t attempt to make the same mistakes of the previous one. If we need a change, it MUST be for the better. Despite all the false promises, the current administration was UNABLE to change their stripes. The new one has a better chance, if there is firm leadership by EXAMPLE, that we will NOT tolerate abuse of power, and corruption. Many of the new line of Cabinet Ministers, let us hope it would no more than 25, and to accommodate some Jonny come latelies, we may tolerate 30 till the elections are held and revert to 25 thereafter.

The incredibly wasteful Presidential allocation can be cut immediately from Rs12B a year to say Rs6B in 2015, as there are many salaries to pay, and upkeep that needs to be cut down within a short period, so that in 2016 it can drop to Rs2B.

I am merely mentioning this as examples for public consumption, if the new administration is to be taken seriously and people’s cynicism of the Govt. changed.

I have just touched the surface in what needs to be done, let us wish the Country a happy and prosperous 2015, with hope for all who live in this wonderful and soon to be vibrant democracy, where dissent is tolerated, and entrepreneurship and a level playing field encouraged. We can then regain our status as one of the foremost countries in this family of Nations on Earth.     

All it takes is just 40 days from being a Hero to become Zero!

Another history lesson for the Maharajanani. Too bad he does not read, nor understand the lessons of history, that are known only too well to his opposition counterpart the uncannily too well read Ranil Wickremasinghe, who must be smirking under that tight lipped grin of his, at the serious erosion of his opponents popularity, and with it the brazen exposure of his misdeeds, and behavioral transformation, that is now openly being talked about.

It was only on his Birthday, cum 4^th anniversary of his second ascendancy to the position of omnipotence on the 18^th of November that his power was on show, when Rs 1Billion was spent on advertising, by his sycophants, and his uncountable number of ministries, wishing him long life and many more years of rule!

Who would have thought that within 40 days, this proud, arrogant and powerful person would on the 28^th of December 2014, be reduced to cancelling his rallies in Kandy, which were expected to be no shows, in comparison with those of the opposition, and would retreat to announcing that he is visiting the affected from a small landslide in Badulla, which his own NBRO was unable to identify earlier as a potential disaster waiting to happen.

He, with his omnipotent washi ball in his hand, for good luck, must come back to his senses, that astrology and superstition have no place in leading his people to a period of unbridled growth, in its real sense, namely their quality of life, as not measured in tangible benefits of limited use and impermanence, but that of satisfaction of living, devoid of greed, and material hoarding. That is leadership.

The game is up, a few more days and we will see what these people are made up of. Many rats are fleeing the sinking ship, but let us hope that they don’t seek solace with their previous opponents, but fade away with their ill-gotten gains to a life of reflection, that all things don’t happen to a man-made plan, but that which is bequeathed by a power beyond our control, that levels, and balances, so that people don’t become insane with the arrogance of power for too long.

Let this also be a warning to the new leaders that it is justice, righteousness and honesty that above all things, wins, no matter what personal ambitions one may set oneself. Therefore, as servants of the people, the day one forgets that simple fact, one becomes surplus to the order of things, in whatever one does. Short term glory will give way to long term misery, and it is well to keep that in mind.

History does repeat itself, and it is good to be aware of that in advance!  

Today even the GOSL polls have finally turned the tide towards MS!

Just now even the most conservative of Govt. polls has just put Maithri ahead of Mahinda by a squeaker! For the first time. It now shows in the faces of all GOSL leaders still remaining (meaning still stomping for MR). Don’t forget most of the others though who have NOT jumped are NOT stomping for MR and are out of sight, not even been seen in the electorates they are supposed to be working in!

There is NO hearsay now, it is factual. It is 51% to MS. Of course the Joint opposition pollsters show 55% to MR’s 45% of those likely to vote. They expect that to be a tide, which on polling day will be 58% to 42%. However that depends on how much or how many billions the GOSL is willing to give away to persuade people to vote for them.

There is a talk that they are willing to offer 500,000 Rs 5000 notes for a vote at the last minute, and so the opposition will have to be over 500,000 thousand ahead at that time in case people take the money and also foolishly cast the vote also, not realizing that they are different transactions! 

The nationwide day of reckoning was today. All across the Country, the only organized opposition, namely the UNP were at work in the electorates, going house to house, with Sirikotha inundated and then running out of leaflets to give the organizers. Their campaign for the most part was successful, and well received across the country.

The Universal comment was where are the GOSL workers? Even the RDA workers and the Samurdhi recipients who have to sign up and help, to get their Samurdhi welfare were also missing! Are they hiding, and are they campaigning out of sight? No one was able to provide an answer except to say that ALL UPFA offices were bereft of people, just leaflets packed piles high with no one able to deliver them. While the opposite was true of the Opposition UNP offices, No leaflets but plenty of volunteers to go house to house to deliver them.

Of course the above is at 28^th Dec, and much can happen by 8^th January. However the GOSL has run out of steam, they are just offering oodles of cash for PS members to cross, now starting at Rs10M. The GOSL campaign in now just reduced to hugely expensive TV, Radio, and Newspaper ads. And Ironically the radio ads are counter-productive as it is the Maharaja ones, that are putting people off even more, and if they had any sense should be pulling them out as they  are having a negative effect. However it is not over until it is over, so its NOT OVER yet!

Kins Nelson – sold to slavery for Rs 250M – HGP must be cursing from beyond!

In what can only be pure greed, of someone who was not in want, the people of Sri Lanka who are in want paid a further Rs250M to him, so he would switch his allegiances and disappear into the sunset.

After all politics was not his game, and when he saw an easy way out, for a whopping 250M he threw loyalty, and respect a side, and enslaved himself to be a mere slave who sold himself in the slave market.

It is the people who protected him, believed in him, when Sidney and Donald who saw through him, distanced themselves from his kind, that have been sold down the river. He will in time live to regret his decision, but those who have been brought up in the reflected glory of their illustrious parents, have no idea, that their principles are just skin deep. It is the faith in the system that has taken a tumble, just as it has with all the jumpers on both sides, and there is no difference in any of them, no matter how they wish to justify their move, to satisfy their conscience.

If there is one lesson we learn from all this, it is that we MUST change the system, to prevent the public who put these servants in these positions of trust, from being cuckolded in this fashion.

No amount of explanations can justify this kind of reprehensible behavior, and after the initial round of exhortations, to prevent him from moving were apparently successful, the price just rose to the level, where the Range Rovers were lighting his eyes, and his wife’s wealth could be weighed against his new found wealth and we know what happens when that becomes an issue, a cuckold gets too swollen headed and disaster strikes, all of one’s own making.

In the end it is the lesson the people of the District will show on Election day that counts if one wants a change and let us see, if prostitutes or the prostituted do win this game of chance, at the Casino tables.

This on a day, Polonnaruwa District teeters on the whims of King Mahasena, where he decides whether his tank the Minneriya, will burst its banks or allow the people who have already suffered under the extreme weather, some respite. A few more days and it will be over one way or another. If we are there to rescue what is left, the indomitable Rajarata population will bounce back with fortitude and determination, to teach these bandit politicians, what it really means to be a bandit of stolen goods, the people have worked so hard and shed so much sweat to provide.      

External Factors Strengthening or weakening the Government’s case

The GOSL is intent on longevity. They are looking at all the options in trying to ensure they will win the elections, if not by fair means then even by foul. We know the extent of the breaking of basic election laws, by the whole cut out saga, where over a Billion was spend just on cut out all over the country, and even in places where animals are likely to see the cut out over the humans. Such was the waste.

In stark contrast My3 has hardly put out cut outs, and posters are few and far between and even the Newspaper ads are a fraction of what the GOSL is displaying. All this reflects the belief of the My3 campaign, and that people will in fact begin to accept that waste of people’s money by the GOSL will not be tolerated by the My3 campaign. Whether our electors can make this deduction I am still not convinced.

Now that the Peshawar school killings of over 125 innocent Children and a sprinkling of adults will be used as the reason for the GOSL perpetual existence. They will try to convince the electorate that ONLY they can guarantee stability, and a country free of terrorism, when terrorism is rife in all the Countries in South Asia except for Sri Lanka.

I don’t buy that argument for a moment, as I believe we are at the tinderbox stag of yet another terror onslaught due to the actions of the GOSL to stoke division, which is the precursor to terrorism. It is not apparent to a foolish electorate due to the end of the 30 year war. If only they know that it is only a My3 Govt. that can at least show a path to governance and the Rule of Law and Order that is missing today, is the only answer to prevent terrorism then they will think otherwise.

All these countries have wars and as consequences of war there is terrorism just as we have had. The fact that we eradicated the initial terrorism is in no doubt, and at a high human cost is not in doubt except for the public inability to understand that the GOSL has lied to the people.

I am not saying that massacres are not necessary to win. I am just saying that if we had admitted that we massacred to win the war we would be in a better position, NOT having to suffer the ignominy of UN resolutions, due to the inability of people to admit to their part.

Let us therefore hope that the sinister attempt to be made to use the Pakistan massacre as a reason for keeping this Head up on pics for another 8 years, will not work with the populace at large and see it for the cheap political gain they attempt!  

The Regime has lost the South – now they have nowhere else to go but take a slow boat to Australia

I don’t believe in salivating at the thought of the interlopers, shivering in their boots wondering where they can go, take their loot, and live in splendor and reflected glory of things past and what might have been. It is simply the order of the day, and lets Nature take its course. There is a great Sinhala word to describe the events that are transpiring in Sri Lanka in this epic month of December 2014.

It is called “sobhadharmayath thekka sellam baha”. So it is with this regime which thought they can mess with the normal course of events. When you get too powerful, this takes over one’s imagination to an extent of omnipotence that only God can aspire to. It is this simple failing of the human psyche that has let these pathetic excuses for the human race dabble in a cacophony of lies of their own making. Once you believe in the lies that you construct, it takes hold of you, where you fail to see that which is so obvious to the uninitiated.

The day and point of reckoning has taken over, and the crowd at Matara was no crowd that was paid for with arrack, 1000 rupee notes, bath packets, and the promise of a day trip out of misery! It was MID WEEK people took time out of their schedules to declare their solidarity with the proposed new order of the day.

It is now a hope filled country of people desperate to turf out of sight, these vagabonds of hate, of conspiracies of their own making, and frightening the people of Uncle Sam when Aunty Ching Ming is ready to pounce on the unpaid debt and take over the mortgage, which means the whole country, which will shortly become unable to repay the debts, as the excesss has been spritied away in foreign bank accounts, which can pay off the interest on their debts for at least the next 6 years as the purloined funds now amount to about US$4B of borrowed money that is socked away.

Let this be a lesson to our future, that in the end ill-gotten gains are worth no more than mush! It is a lesson to us all to mend our ways, change our values, think of the Country as a whole, its future, and reverse the degradation of the paradise we were born to, but which we have partially destroyed in the name of bogus developments of no value to anyone.

So friends Lankans, Countrymen lend me your ears, and listen to the fat lady who is singing a tune, serenading the departure of the heathen of our land. NO MORE, No more can you destroy that which we were so graciously endowed with!        

These are the bozos we have at the helm!

A bozo (a stupid or insignificant man) has been let loose by the people of this Country to lead them. He has gathered to his fold the criminals with a record that requires protection so we have a country run by Criminals. Worse the Bozo himself has just admitted it as such, you can understand by reading the link below

http://colombogazette.com/2014/11/27/unp-wants-answers-on-files-with-mr/

The fact that there are more bozos left who cannot understand this fact, is what is keeping this Great and mighty Clown in all his Glorious Veneer in a pedestal, whose foundations are cracking from under him.

It is really the time and place to call chips in, explain to the people, that the Act, and that is all that has happened to the hapless citizens, that the Act is finished, and it is the funeral rites that we have just endorsed if we are to save our motherland from further humiliation at the hands of the traitors in Patriot’s disguise.

When a President who is immune from prosecution, even for cold blooded murder, holds files of current criminals who have NOT BEEN PROSECUTED, then he is GUILTY as SIN for HARBORING CRIMINALS in his own CABINET.

What an indictment if ever there is one for the complete basterdization[u1]  of a nation. These pack of criminals must be dealt with if we are to clean our country from excrement. Until and unless they are eviscerated from our land, we cannot show by example to our children what right and wrong means when wrong has hitherto triumphed over right!

It is only when we revert to the rule of law, checks and balances, and good governance that we can return to the Good Old days, where we were able to live where we wanted, and feel safe in the midst of the law enforcement, no matter what creed or caste you belonged to.

In a majoritarian environment the majority who are uncaring do not understand the feelings of those in a minority, and therefore distrust and racism becomes the norm.

We can now overturn this rule, return our country from lies and performance to truth and humanity as well as modesty and free it from waste and greed. Let us all return to the basic values of family and village and togetherness, and discard this me me world that is the result of false prophets and gods.           

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 [u1]

Is it right for a Buddhist cleric to claim credit?

When the Ven Athureliya Rathana Thero, wishes to glorify himself for ever, by taking credit for bringing Maithripala Sirisena as the common candidate to represent all those who wish to topple the Dictatorship of the family Rajapakse, it is a little too smug! It smacks of un-Buddhist belief to wallow in triumphalism, when modesty in behavior is the requirement of a true Buddhist.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/57383/i-was-the-mastermind-behind-making-maithripala-the-common-candidate

Ibso facto then, we live in a make believe Country, where un Buddhists pretend to be Buddhists, and Leaders pretend to be leaders, by acting the part, and further that positions are for sale to the highest bidder like an auction of prostitutes plying their wares. Into this veritable Gomorrah, descends a common candidate, with seemingly selfless determination to unseat the status quo, but lo and behold it gradually dawns that ulterior motives are at work.

Does the Ven Rathana Thero wish to influence future decisions by proclaiming NO support of the JHU to the common candidate, on the one hand, and then claiming credit for all positive outcomes that arise out of the actions of the Common candidate? Then if the common candidate wins the Presidential, will he wish to claim all credit for bringing him to that position, implying a position of authority to determine policy of the new Government? You just cannot have it both ways.

This kind of duplicity is NOT what is the need of the hour, but instead, an honest, and clear statement, of where his loyalties lie. I would therefore appeal to the generally highly regarded monk to use his influence to back the common candidate, NOT leaving any wiggle room to confuse the issue of where the JHU loyalties are and merely say, that once he is elected, then their position will be further clarified, in their decision to contest the General Election as an independent party, without affiliation, which will align itself to the Government most closely proposing the policies adopted by the JHU as a national movement!

In this game of prostitution, it is ONLY those who can never be bought no matter what the price, who will triumph in the natural order of righteousness to show by example that we can indeed change our political culture, for the common good, completely rejecting the current practices of underworld leaders of Government in favor of what is RIGHT! Then and only then, can the rogues be banished forever. It is time for Right to overcome Wrong!!!!  

The Avarice of our politicians – holds a country hostage

Is there no shame? It is quite clear that public money is being used to lure or to prevent leakage by defection, and it is now clear the stakes are high, so high that it boggles the mind. The indecent Rs500M offered for defections, and retentions beggars belief!

http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=114820

It is time that the people of Sri Lanka realize that they have unwittingly voted for the scum of the earth to represent them, as they have NO qualms to move and play musical chairs if the price is right! This selling oneself for the highest bidder is nothing more than prostitution, and for people elected by the populace of Sri Lanka to be termed prostitutes, is a telling indictment of the voters inability to judge for themselves between candidates, and allow themselves to be completely hoodwinked by a bunch of actors on both sides, hell bent on fattening their pockets at the expense of the state, namely the people of Sri Lanka. 

We have a choice. Don’t be fooled by rhetoric. Learn to understand rhetoric, from genuine altruism. Also don’t forget that an altruist turns into an actor ready to fleece if he or she has been on the game for too long, and I would put that at a maximum of 10 years, and I would prefer 5 to be the time one must commit one’s life to politics.

So we as a Country must reject the celebrations of anyone who has spent over 10 years in politics as a rogue, no matter who he is. Then people of stature, will dabble in politics for a short while to give it their all to their country, knowing that charlatans will not take over and take credit for their honest intentions, and work in  Nation Building.

So let us act fast, as there is NO more time to lose, to prevent all those who have made it a game of tails you win, in a win win game of Sri Lanka politics, from grabbing power, getting elected, and holding on to power for too long.

This also includes the leader of the opposition, who has been far too long in politics to be good for the Country, despite his honesty and lack of personal greed for amassing wealth. Let us identify a band of leaders NOT prostitutes and give them a chance at the top jobs. We must limit the period they can operate and continue to monitor their progress. Only then will we change the political culture from a rogues profession to a patriots one.                

The “pariah” of the world continues to deflect their transgressions of today, by a defying stance on the transgressions of yesterday.

Who but the most ignorant would deny that the only friends we seem to draw to us are all those questionable nations, such as Lesotho, Libya, Uganda, Seychelles, Myanmar, Maldives, and Afghanistan to name a few. Why is this? Why are we desperate to seek our friends amongst these? Is it because we cannot even match the standards of others to be friends?

What an embarrassing situation, when the only reason China seems to want to come here is to make it a Colony, as it is a desirable place for them to live, marry our girls and gradually colonize as they have to find some space for their expanding population, and provide a better quality of life for their affluent out of their own Country, that is turning into a polluted hell hole of the world.

So no wonder that even the new HC at the UNHRC, is frustrated at the stalling of the Govt. in the investigations. This is something SL should have put to bed in 2009 once and for all. However they took the stupid diplomatic decision to fight, which will result in the MR govt. fighting the UN till the end of their term, resulting in the people of SL being dragged in the mud for sins of one and not of the nation.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/56065/al-hussein-slams-govt

It is only when the sycophants realize their leader is a traitor, will we see a change in Govt. and until then we will suffer in silence to the wholesale rape and plunder of the nation with impunity in front of our eyes. The obstruction of the OCHR is just part of this game plan of political gamesmanship, where only the hapless SL citizens are the victims on a daily basis, and the pride of the leadership gets worse than preening peacocks.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/56045/unhrc-says-sl-sabotaging-inquiry

It is time someone has the guts to highlight this sad state of affairs, where the State is fooling the people, and trying to cover up their sins, in the guise that the rest of the world is supporting the Diaspora. We could have obtained a lasting peace soon after the war ended, as that was the most appropriate time for that to have happened. Where are we now? No nearer resolution, and who are we to blame.

It is time for action and a concerted reaction on the part of the people to take the law into their own hands against the illegal and treacherous activity of the Govt.        

Gupta the IRCON culprit knows all who benefited from the deal - so the list will be published shortly

Gupta I believe has made his own pile of sins on the IRCON deal – another cost to the people, and vast kickbacks to the henchman all to be paid by people of Sri Lanka for years to come.

The contention by Sri Lankan experts who know their onions is unquestionable, and as they have NO personal stake here other than to state the truth, it is only correct on the part of IRCON and their representative here, Gupta to set the record straight rather than wiggle out by obvious lying.

See link and spot the obvious anomalies and lies of Gupta, who is only trying to defend himself as there are so many people including him personally who have benefitted from this deal.

http://colombogazette.com/2014/11/07/indian-railways-denies-claims-on-lanka/

While I don’t like getting personal on this, with all the lying Gupta has spouted, it needs some retort. Lets start with the fact that being the sole IRCON man on the ground in Sri Lanka, he was the all powerful head of the project with a lot of powers of decision making, and a lot of leeway in how money was spent.

So when he chose local contractors for all parts of the job, it was to his benefit. Only when he was able to get some benefit for him, would he offer a contract loaded with excess costs, which the people of Sri Lanka will have to pay in the future. If the Sri Lankan Railways paid this it would have not been through backhanders, but utilizing its own tried and tested suppliers and procedures, and they would have done it for a quarter of the cost. The fact that new lines were laid out with better material is not something new to SL Railways, and they could also have done the same with no compromise on speed or quality of the line.

I wonder how many women were able to sleep with him, or did he only give all the juicy contracts to one female who slept with him on a continuing scale we don’t know. It is just that the female in question being only money minded would not be averse to sleeping with Gupta when she could make a million or two dollars in clear profits for a couple of nights fun on the run. I am sorry Mrs Gupta but there goes the illusion of purity, when sex and money beckons the most potent twins of deceit get mixed up with public service!!!

Gupta, the facts are stubborn, you could have just said no comment, and not elicited the wrath of a reader, to your lies that even a monkey will not be persuaded to believe. It is tragic that the SL people are the victims of your misdeeds as well as!       

Landslide needs assessment from the affected zone - The real story

What I wrote from my armchair in the City, was completely proved, upon my visit to the sites of the displaced. The LANDSLIDE

It is clear that the GOSL overstated the crisis as the complete death toll is no more than 60. This was completely manageable from internal resources of local govt. with only the search and rescue, which should have been faster, to be handled by a National Disaster response team.

It was very sad to see the generosity of our citizens wasted. AID was piled high, with the authorities NOT knowing what to do with them, and some plastic buckets donated were visibly crushed by the mountain of piles of donated stuff.

Frankly the bereaved, and the displaced have received at 10X the required donated stuff. There is an NGO that is actually trained in India, for such disasters providing sterling support, as they have brought a fully staffed team with counselors, technicians cooks and the lot, who have been given some rooms to take care of the displaced people there, and are on the ball, tending to ALL their temporary needs.

Now upon first investigation, there is a shortage of FEMALE police and forces personnel to protect the females, who may want to go to the toilets at night, that have been set up, and are afraid. Then there are those in genuine fear of returning to their homes, whilst there are others who have taken advantage of the situation and are saying they WILL NOT move from the temporary shelters until they are provided with permanent better and good housing.

Then there are others who are relatives of the displaced, who have also come to the camps and claim housing there, as they know they will be well taken care of. This has increased the numbers, and the GOSL is unable therefore to take stock of the real problem at hand.

It was raining when I was there, and cold, but hot cooked food was available and the people seemed to cope. There was an issue of passes to come in and out, as all and sundry were loitering in pursuit of some largesse for themselves, their families or some personal use.

It was the potential waste that I was concerned about and the fact that when the next landslide comes, the generosity would not be there. There were a large amount of water bottles donated, but they really did not need water at all as the facilities were quite adequate in that respect. So as I said in my previous entry it was OVERKILL!

Meeriyabedda Landslide – Why always the same mistakes in the aftermath?

Don’t we ever learn? Why is our disaster response to a manageable disaster chaos!

Let’s get a grip on the rational need for common sense without making it a political statement. Whys is the GOSL making political capital out of people's suffering?

It was most shameful, and shameless of the President who turns up at the disaster zone and begins making utterances that are reported as “Ada Derana Breaking news", that in an instant belittled that news as being a joke. Telling the child protective services to protect the kids is like asking your grandmother to suck eggs.

In short Sri Lanka has a Disaster Management Cabinet Minister, Deputy Minister, a fully overstaffed Ministry and sufficient funds allocated to manage a disaster of this magnitude. Further we have a tried and tested approach to this type of emergency, where the Divisional Secretariat where the disaster occurs WILL have data on the place, and the Divisional Secretary and his team will be able to provide immediate assistance and assess the situation correctly, and give exact indications of the needs assessment. Govt then responds accordingly.

ALL DONATIONS and AID must be handled through this channel without POLITICIANS OF ALL PARTIES DESCENDING FOR PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES like a bunch of lunatics just freed from an asylum.

Let’s face the reality. We don’t know even today, 4 days after the event how many are missing. This is due to the lack of procedures to know how many homes were destroyed, and taking the census of who lived in those homes. It is a simple procedure today, in the era of computers not to have records ONLY in a house that also was destroyed with the data!

Secondly it is a simple matter of housing all the people who  lost their homes in a school, provide them with immediate hot meals, warm clothes, but most importantly grief counselling and taking appropriate measures to protect children who don’t have a close relative adult who can be their temporary guardian in case of missing parents.

Remember further after 4 days less than 15 bodies have so far been recovered, and we don’t have the resources, to dig out bodies, and we must accept that we cannot hope to search for survivors at this stage.

Once the needs assessment of the 250 survivors housed in a school is made and provisions collected from Govt funds, the next step would be to calmly evacuate people from other threatened areas and house them accordingly.

So what is this guilt trip that the rest of the Country are engaged in? People are all clamoring to help, dropping of clothes and dry rations and water, to take, drive, transport to Koslanda.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/55555/sl-requests-help-from-us

I AM NOT belittling generosity, but it should NOT BE MISPLACED out of guilt. The Govt. has the infrastructure, resources, and personnel to manage this disaster, without any help from the public in the short term. The public SHOULD have been advised to deposit money into an account which will be fully transparent as to how the money would be spent on orphaned children of the disaster. 

If it is just 1000 blankets they really need, they could call on a party to provide it, if there is a donor, or they could simply source it and transport it faster than any of us!! It is therefore crazy that all sorts of bags are deposited by people trying to help, and using collection points, where all this stuff will end is anybody’s guess.

It is a later matter of collecting donations now, when people are most generous to use it later for the care of orphaned children, which is the most useful use of people’s generosity for long term support.

I AM SURE a whole industry is sprouting in Koslanda to distribute the largesse to those THAT ARE NOT NEEDY. We saw it at Tsunami and we see it now. The donors are completely ignorant.

If you deny my hypothesis then there is ABJECT FAILURE ON THE PART OF THE GOVT. OF SRI LANKA and the President should resign in shame.

As for the recovery of the bodies, it is a matter of debate if we should attempt to do so, or let the landslide be a reminder and memorial to the incompetence of the authorities to stress the potential for danger, and the further incompetence to protect the environment and degradation of lands, and felling of old growth trees, that precipitated this landslide, which WOULD NOT have occurred if a longer term plan of environmental protection was followed.

I hope this is a firm reminder of more to come, and the AUTHORITIES take immediate steps to prevent landslides, by engaging in regeneration activity, whilst at the same identifying all landslide prone areas AT MOST RISK and removing human abodes from those areas by providing alternative accommodation to the affected people, at least as if not much better than present, so that they will HAVE NO inclination to defy authorities and move back to abandoned homesteads.

If you have something to add or take issue with me on this please do, as in proportion to the physically affected people today, it is a small number of survivors.            

The shameless GOSL – can’t even reply to the Cardinal on a simple question!

What what! Manners what is that? nothing to do with us!

The band of shameless brigands who have taken power in Sri Lanka, think they can play with the lives of the Sri Lankan people, like they have all these years kick them from pillar to post to further their nests and ends.

They now think they can do the same with the Vatican, as the President went personally at huge expense to the people of Sri Lanka for nothing more than mere personal publicity, and astrological desire.

Now the rumors of an early January election, has put the Catholic Church in a mess, and the Pope’s visit WILL NOT take place unless the election is put back to March.

http://www.ceylontoday.lk/51-76385-news-detail-govt-says-no-confusion-over-popes-visit-slams-tna.html

As usual MARA wants it both ways, and very soon the stars will clash and he won’t have it anyways, so it is simple to make a proclamation, that there will not be an election in the foreseeable future, and let the Courts first determine the legitimacy of this action of holding an election and going for it for the third time.

Let the Pope come and satisfy his community, and the baptized kids of the President, and be done with it, without hassling the Catholic Church in this way.

It is time we move to set election dates where more than one election is held on the same day, forcing the people to make intelligent decisions on a whole host of policies rather than on hasty decisions on the suitability of a media campaign alone. I have not gone through the proposals of the 19^th Amendment, and hope that the tabling of elections all on one day is mandatory.

Further forgetting term limits, it is time we now only have one term, like in Uruguay where a president can only seek election for ONE consecutive term, and later he can re-apply for another term after a break that would allow comparison, and choice, something that is not possible now.

It is now up to the Cardinal to draw a line in the sand, and say that as the President has not been straightforward enough to reply to a letter, hoping the delay will resolve itself, he should just say the Pope will overfly the Country and give it a miss as the timing is just not up to snuff!           

Let us then see what gives, ego, expediency, expectation, or the exercise of caution, and while all this goes on the slaves of Lanka are just left to wonder.   

“Haal Paaru Set Aka Ge Kathawa” - Sajin vs Nonis part XXX

As another aspect of the tragedy that is Sri Lanka unfolds, the knives are out in force Chris Nonis, though I must say up front I shed no tears for him as he decided to lie in bed with leeches and got his blood completely sucked out!

Nevertheless, it is quite clear that he is the victim of a setup, and the evidence against him is all cooked up by those whose jobs depend on the people they are trying to defend and any fool reading the link will be able to ascertain the fact from fiction. I nearly fell out of my chair laughing at allegation that Nonis fell of his chair and hurt himself!

http://www.ceylontoday.lk/51-76324-news-detail-report-leaks.html

This is what happens in the ‘Classic Court of Treachery, when traitors to their country are still only interested in saving their worthless skin, when the reputation of their motherland and all innocent people who live in it is at stake.

As for Nonis, as I said earlier the classic penis envy is in full view of the whole set of signatories, including the full team at the High Commission, who should all be sent to the gallows for treachery, as they have done nothing in the UK to save the reputation of the Country from the LTTE Diaspora, and their continuous allegations that these spineless swine have not been able to resist!

Lets face it, the Ministry of External Affairs has been brought to its knees, and only those who are willing to suck the bum of the little boys who rule over them, survive, so it is a survivalist game, NOT of the fittest, only of the ones willing to sell their mothers for their paycheck!

I pity the Foreign Service operatives, who are caught between a rock and a hard place, unable to distinguish between right and wrong. Frankly they don’t even realize that what they do is against the interests of their own Country, and the long term interests of their families in Sri Lanka, unless of course they are looking at ways of getting the hell out of their motherland, families and all, saying anywhere is better than the hell hole they have been party to!

Just imagine the seething jealousy, of the HC ten, who are signatories to the fact that Nonis was even able to arrange for Prince Charles to drop in by Helicopter at his family estate for a cup of tea, not even something MR could would or will ever have a chance of doing, not that I rate it highly, but the HAAL PAARUWAS in London do.

They thought they have stuck their knife into Nonis in a typical Shakespearean Play,  but then in reality they don’t know who Shakespeare is!  So Nonis will have the last laugh.

US$100 to enter a casino! Is that another joke from a Country Bumpkin?

Now that word Country Bumpkin is his, to describe himself not mine, as I would not be so generous!     

The tragedy of a President who is the laughing stock of the world but a serious offender of the basic rights of the people he pretends to rule over, continues. This time with the big joke he thinks any commonsense person in Sri Lanka will believe.

Put simply, there are 5 licensed casinos in Sri Lanka. Outside the doors it says Foreigners Only, just so that the bouncers can show the sign and turf out any they consider undesirable. With so many Sri Lankans inside the doors gambling, that is also for show.

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/141026/news/pay-us-100-to-enter-a-casino-124693.html

Now they will have a sign saying US$100 entry. That too is ALL SHOW. Except for the odd sucker, who does not know the Sri Lankan art of having rules just to trip people up, this too will never be enforced, as the Casinos, will not have any clients!!

Is there going to be a casino regulator at the entrance to each casino 24/7 who is not corrupt? Reader please answer that. So that is another BOGUS RAJAPAKSEISM to keep us entertained, that we have a BUFFOON at the Head of this Country and no one else.

In reality if there are spot checks to see if the casinos comply, they will be bought off, and all the regular clients will have employee identity cards, which preclude them having to pay this charge. For good measure they will be on the payroll also.

Ask the Govt, to please disclose on the 1^st of the following month, the number of entrance tickets from the 5 casinos for which this US$100 fee is charged, and how many paid this! Just to keep the casino license, the Casino operator may disclose a BOGUS amount, and pay out of his pocket to the BUFFOON, and make the whole country a BUNCH OF BUFFOONS something a little better than BABBOONS.

Readers if you really believe what was said in the budget, pray tell me how that will be applied in practice and if you have been to gambling parlors except for a fee that will be used up by getting the equivalent in chips, who will pay this entrance?

This is another example of a person who is living under delusions of grandeur makes a living out of deluding an uneducated, foolish populace, who by his very own administration are NOT being properly educated. For his longevity, it is better to give an uneducated soldier a gun to hold on to rather than educate the people so that they can truly be productive citizens of this country, as he will be turfed out instantly.       

It is time for Sanity out of Insanity when the POT CALLS THE KETTLE BLACK - a must read for SL expatriates

In a Country where no outrage on the part of the ruling class is even considered anything but normal, jocular, and typical of a murderous junta, when a mere University Don sends threatening SMS’s to a man whose rap sheet is longer than the most accused criminal in Sri Lanka history, it is time to take stock and just incarcerate Sajin Vaas Gunewardene for life.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/news/53682-threatening-sms-to-sajin.html

If one goes into the Don’s case, one would most likely find that this scum of the earth was able to craftily take every earned penny from this poor man’s life. One of his biggest scams that have cost 100 people their hard earned money, is when he sells a vehicle, takes the money, and does not give the vehicles papers to the purchaser leaving them with a worthless car that he conveniently repossess. As these transactions are in cash and the people involved are well known, who don’t want to air their stupidity in dealing with a crook like Sajin Vaas, suffer the loss. Apparently this Don’s patience has snapped, and Sajin has paid off the cops to misstate the Don’s statements giving the reason for this rather foolish, but nevertheless logical act of a person who has been ruined mentally and financially by this rogue who if convicted for his crimes will have to do at least 10 lifetimes in jail, the rap sheet being so long.

For the Country’s President to allow him to roam freely is tantamount to admission that he is pimping for his Grace the big time Thief incarnate! How else would one explain inaction. When a whole country, even 135 ministers are threatened with exposure for their minor sins, when people get away with major crimes, it goes to the core fabric of what it is to be Sri Lankan.

If there are any out there, left in Sri Lanka who still have a bone left in their body, not compromised by fear, and threat, get out and chase these rogues over the precipice! Those of you who have fled as you cannot tolerate this nonsense, please do one thing. 

Convince your fellow ex-countrymen that this joker who runs this country really is more than the Devil in human form, and unless the Country can remove him and his band of rogues, we will not have a country left for you to even tell your Grandkids about the “Good old Days” when there was a country managed by altruistic honest leaders who ONLY had the welfare of their people at heart, and when they finally left their mortal remains in their motherland, they only had Rs400 to their name. Yes there was a time, and that time there was NO FEAR. No one waited for a boat to get out of Paradise, and the quality of life was even better then, than of Singapore or Japan. We can reverse time only by eviscerating the rogues, all whilst still alive.

The Politicization of Education by this Regime – injustice to Students

How ironic, insincere and downright treacherous of the President to make a statement yesterday, warning students, this time at Schools against  attempts by some parties to introduce political ideas that differ from that of the Govt.’s thinking into education.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/news/53634-mr-warns-over-facebook-politics-.html

This is just symptomatic of the Rajapakse disease that has taken control of Sri Lanka and is far more dangerous than the currently prevailing dengue epidemic, and potentially even more deadly Ebola epidemic, even if it spreads to these shores.

What pray is this disease? Simply put, reflect one’s own ills on to others. That is take on any social misstep or malaise in Sri Lanka, and after 10 years in power is completely one’s own making, but make an asinine statement that it has been caused by others, leaving one’s own white outfit squeaky clean, with the standard of treachery, the Kurakkan Satakaya, for the consumption of the uneducated!

Reality though is that inside that squeaky clean exterior is nothing more than pure excrement of filth of every mind boggling proportions that has engulfed this nation in a twirl of a tornado that at its edge is an abyss of ruin that this nation can never recover from.

Therefore it is with education also that this same pattern has been repeated ad nauseam, and where previously I have pointed out that the CKDU has also been a result of Rajapkse political expediency over the lives of tens of thousands of innocent people.

In Education, the appointment of Teachers, Principals, Professor, Vice Chancellors, and even the ancillary staff, is completely under the control of the Governing Politicians both National and Provincial. That can only mean before a child enters the Montessori, he is subjected to a politically corrupt, incompetent teacher. NO WONDER then that Education is not worth being called that and from now we should refer to it as Rajapaksarized Brain Removal Scheme turning Einsteins into Mental Deviants, who in other lands would have to be locked up in Sanatoriums for their own safety.

When these are the products of a Politicized education system, that is designed to prevent independent, logical and just evaluation of facts, how can a President who really is supposed to at least not be mentally unstable, make such comments that even the a permanently incarcerated schizophrenic would never make!!    

Even at the best of times – Sajin de Vaas had no defense!

To think the Country has allowed this individual to continue destroy Sri Lankan institutions, is in itself an indictment of his protector, patron, and partner in crime, the President.

www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/so-who-is-sajin-vass/

www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comment-on-sajin-nonis-affair/

www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/angry-president-accepts-nonis-resignation/

http://colombogazette.com/2014/10/03/kshenuka-complains-mr-orders-probe-2/

http://www.ft.lk/2014/10/04/mr-orders-probe-on-alleged-sajin-chris-fracas-kshenukas-complaint/

http://www.ft.lk/2014/10/04/sajin-sidelined/

See above for links to articles relating to the person and below a detailed report of his taking the Country for a ride on his Mihin saga, where he appeared to have amassed most of the ill gotten gains: Let the reader be the judge after considering the evidence.

Let us start with the report published in the Nation newspaper in 2008: below

·           Confidence trickster taking 20 million Sri Lankans for a ride

·         Rs. 2 Billion in 12 months � and rising, with interest payment at Rs 1 million plus per day

·         Top Government officials unwittingly roped in and at risk

By Hawkeye
Every politician in the world needs and has assistants. Their role is simply that: to assist their principal to accomplish various goals � be it political or personal. 

But the story of Sajin De Vaas Gunawardena is a phenomenally rare one. For, he has taken the friendship and gratitude of one man and abused that generosity to an extent that the political hierarchy of Sri Lanka is at grave risk. 
Sajin Vaas Gunawardena�s story has brought new meaning to the words �embarrassment� and �fraud�.

Sajin Vaas has proved himself to be a habitual phony. His capabilities had much in store for him. Yet, inherently, his nature is that of a confidence trickster. He plans, from the outset, what his goal would be � that, in itself, is no bad thing. However, most successful people plan on their goal being achieved via the opportunities presented to them, opportunities they have created for themselves, in order to achieve the goals they set for themselves. 

It is desperately sad, that a man who had so much going for him, a man who has the backing of the very elite forces in this country, a man whose capability can actually help achieve goals for his country and for his mentor, has chosen to abandon these rare opportunities, apparently, in favour of misdeeds. His apparent casting away of these opportunities has been done with seemingly gay abandon � more at home in the seedy nightclubs of Patpong Street rather than the genteel suburbia of Mirihana.

When the President of the Palestine-Sri Lanka Friendship Society stopped over in Dubai, while enroute to celebrations in Saudi Arabia, in 2002, he met with many Sri Lankan migrant workers there. Among them was a Wharf Clerk by the name of Sajin Vaas Gunawardena, working for one of the largest Sri Lankan based freight forwarding companies, Trico International. Assisting the VIP with his baggage formalities, Gunawardena fast made friends. Sajin displayed remarkable foresight and a deep understanding of his new friend�s requirements. Immediately understanding that there was no other person within the entourage who was as fluent in Sinhalese as in English and who was computer literate and internet savvy, Sajin immediately seemed an attractive proposition to the President of the Society. Only half jokingly did he ask Sajin to, �come and work for me � assist me with my vision for Sri Lanka�. Within a month of that visit, Sajin Vaas was back in Sri Lanka helping his new �friend�. 

That the new �friend� then went on to become Minister of Highways, Prime Minister and eventually, President of Sri Lanka, is contemporary history.

Sajin worked tirelessly and with much enthusiasm for Mahinda Rajapaksa. The President was impressed and rightly so: Sajin had, he felt, been a good choice. He was young, energetic, and had obviously taken to everything like a duck to water. Those around the presidential candidate were equally impressed. He would make a good co-coordinator said the newly elected President in the wee hours of the morning, when it became apparent that he was the victor at the presidential campaign. 

The President-elect was generous in his gratitude to Sajin: he told some of his advisors that Sajin was a very useful fellow; give him a task and he was like a dog with a bone. No sooner given than Sajin was sure to come back with the goods. �He could deliver,� was the message: so he promptly appointed him as a co-coordinating secretary.

Generosity and trust abused - the stolen business plan
And that is when Sajin Vaas started plotting to do anything other than co-coordinating work. Having convinced the new President of his capability, he set about putting his established modus operandi into play. Apparently, his interests lay not in serving his President and country � it was to embark on any form of money making exercise. Sajin had already tasted the value of being close to someone inherently part of the political establishment, when he was at the RDA. Mahinda Rajapaksa, as Minister of Highways, was already aware of Sajin�s ability to �get things done�. Now, with his mentor holding the highest office, it was a case of �Open Sesame�. Numerous offers came his way, but it would have meant that Sajin would have to be simply a facilitator. That role was not for him � he was after something rather more substantial and which oodles more recognition. At a party, he was given the idea of a new airline, but the offer to him was not attractive enough: originally, he was meant to start an airline with private sector investment. With his affinity and intimacy to the Presidential Secretariat, he was after the �Main Event�. Having put Mahinda Rajapaksa�s naturally suspicious mindset to rest, with the hard work he put in, he completely misled the new President and his key advisors such as Lalith Weeratunga, with his audaciously simple plan to set up an airline. He spoke passionately and with sanguinity about how he could set up another State airline, but nowhere near the cost the Treasury incurred setting up Air Lanka.

Sajin wasted no time and got in touch with a Sugath Rajapaksa � who provided a Business Plan for Mihin, allegedly in exchange for promise of employment. Rajapaksa was absorbed into Mihin Lanka, only to be sidelined once Sajin got going.

Obtaining a copy, with possible promises of a bigger role to play, Sajin presented to the President, his proposal to set up a budget airline called MIHIN LANKA. With clever play on the choice of name, he also gave the President an offer he could not sensibly refuse: Sajin, was, he allegedly claimed, able to start a budget airline with just Rs 700 million or approximately US$ 7.5 million. 

The President had no reason to mistrust a man who had proved to be a very able lieutenant; so he sent him to discuss matters with none other than his brother, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Impressed too, with Sajins� talk and having been told by Sajin that this had the presidential nod, Gothabaya too agreed and extended his cooperation. Sajin was then sent on to the Air Force Commander, as well as to see Lalith Weeratunga. 

Sajin now had a star-studded Board: Gothabaya Rajapaksa as Chairman, Lalith Weeratunga, Air Marshal Roshan Gunathilaka (Commander of the Air Force), Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera and of course, himself.

He had convinced all these eminent persons of his ability to set up an airline with only US$ 7.5 million, as he intended to set up a low cost airline. 

None of the fellow Board members have any commercial expertise or acumen in terms of Aviation. Clearly, they too placed emphasis on the fact that they were dealing with �the President�s man�. Which, probably, would have been exactly what Sajin had in mind, in any event.

He bypassed the then Minister of Aviation Mangala Samaraweera, who, he was privileged to know first hand, was on the way out of favour with the President, and went straight on to the Director General of Civil Aviation. Minister Samaraweera was suitably embarrassed in Parliament during questions, when he had to admit to having no knowledge of the Mihin Lanka operation.

Fanning the fire of hatred and antagonism
To apparently fan the fires of hatred and antagonism between the President and Minister Samaraweera, it is alleged that Sajin covertly arranged and destroyed Mihin Lanka billboards on the airport approach road � one of the most heavily guarded roads in the country. The blame fell squarely on Tiran Alles and Mangala Samaraweera, prompting an enraged President to all but accuse Mangala directly at the cabinet meeting.

Intimidating DG H.M.C. Nimalsiri
Sajin promptly visited the offices of the Director General of Civil Aviation, the soft-spoken, professional H.M.C. Nimalsiri. In moves more at home in the Arab World than elsewhere, he announced that �In the Name of The President� I am applying for an airline operators licence and I want your fullest cooperation. If ever there was a straight bat, that was Nimalsiri: he astutely said �yes, we will accommodate you� and arranged for Sajin to collect an application. Nimalsiri�s Rahu period thus started: he was allagedly bullied into compromising his professional standards, coerced into ignoring rules imposed on the DGCA by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) � an agency no less than from the United Nations � and banned from further work on the other local applications that were being processed. 

In a matter of weeks, Nimalsiri tendered his resignation � he was then allegedly bullied into taking a 2 �-year leave of absence instead, to save face � and joined COSCAP-SA. (see box) It is one of the few instances when the involvement of Sajin Gunawardena has resulted in greater benefit: Nimalsiri is now the Regional Coordinator for COSCAP-SA and is highly remunerated at over Rs. 800,000 per month and is allowed to get on with his job without any let or hindrance. Adding to the irony is that Nimalsiri will have to actually oversee the local Civil Aviation Authority on matters of continued airworthiness, a matter where Mihin Lanka is bound to run aground with the use of old aircraft on the fringes of the safety regulations. 

ICAO Audit will probe shortcomings
Ironically, Nimalsiri has now written to his successor DGCA, pointing out to various shortcomings in the Mihin Lanka operation, from a safety point of view.

Nimalsiri has done so just ahead of the annual audit of the Civil Aviation Authority, which will be carried out by the International Civil Aviation Authority, ICAO, in December this year.

Its payback time for Nimalsiri: he copied his correspondence to ICAO headquarters in Montreal, for good measure.
With the Mihin AOC coming up for renewal in March, we are bound to see interesting times ahead.
Acting Director General, Parakrama Dissanayaka is not a happy puppy � what, with the letter being copied to Montreal and Sajin Vaas breathing fire down him. And all the while, he must be seen to be doing a professional job!

Bullying Shafik Kassim and Expo Aviation
In a spectacular interpretation of the rules governing the issue of an aircraft operators certificate (AOC) � the primary instrument needed to set up an airline � and proving Sajin�s penchant for bending if not breaking the rules � Sajin persuaded Expo Aviation to �Dry Lease� its ageing 25.3 year-old Fokker F27 aircraft. Shafik Kassim was given perhaps one of the worst deals in his commercial career. Dry Lease the F27, but lend us the flight crew, Mihin will Wet Lease it back to Kassims� Expo Aviation without any form of monetary value. Except perhaps, Kassim must have been acutely aware of the difficulties his other aviation operations may face, had he not played ball with Gunawardena. After all, Kassim too, must be aware now, that his old Fokker F27 was re-registered with the CAA as 4R-MRA. Another clever play with the Presidential initials this time around. Gunawardena was able to get his F27 approved, despite its age, because it was already registered in Sri Lanka and thus came under the local Civil Aviation Authority�s purview!

Safety considerations and regulations compromised
Expo Aviation, despite being the owners of the Mihin 4R-MRA Fokker, now have use of it via a wet lease. As the operator of the aircraft, they are responsible to the CAA in terms of its operation. The owner of the aircraft, in this case on paper only and for expediency, is Mihin Lanka. The owner too, has to file a report with the CAA in terms of its maintenance and safety issues. 

Thus, when the F27 had to return to Ratmalana after taking off for Palaly, Expo dutifully filed an Accident and Incident Report with the CAA.

When Mihin failed to do its part (as they had �given back� the F27 on a wet lease) the CAA contacted Mihin. Only to be told that they had �nothing to do with it�. Athula Dissanayake, a one time Air Traffic Controller and Training Manager, is the de-facto Flight Operations Manager at Mihin Lanka and the virtual Personal Assistant to its CEO, Sajin Gunawardena. He displayed his lack of expertise for the regulatory process in refusing to file an appropriate report with the CAA. It is for reasons such as these that his qualifications are not acceptable to the CAA for the position of Flight Operations Manager � hence our choice of words, �de-facto.� In fact, Mihin Lanka has a figure head for that position in the form of retired Captain Errol Cramer who all but lends his name for those purposes, but plays no active role at all. Had Mihin Lanka been an airline without �influence�, it is extremely doubtful if the CAA would have accepted such roles for sensitive posts such as this.

Another instance of many, giving credence to the accusation that Mihin Lanka spends far too much, causing it to constantly lose money.

Mihin Lanka AOC in jeopardy � Expo Aviation set to sell F27
In a startling move, Shafik Kassim and Expo Aviation have now requested Mihin to hand back the Fokker F27 back to them, as they wish to rid themselves off an old and near decrepit aircraft. The manufacturer has closed down and spares are only available from third party suppliers. It may also be that Expo are growing tired of the constant headache of perpetrating and sustaining an agreement reached with Mihin Lanka, reached purely to help Mihin Lanka. 

In the event that this happens, Mihin Lanka will automatically lose its AOC and would have to close down! Sajin Gunwardena, therefore, is a busy man: he has contacted his Romanian interests to supply an ageing RomBAC 111, previously used as a troop carrier in Afghanistan. Registration number YR-BRI and also used by a short lived airline called Aerotrans out of Larnaca Airport in Cyprus. This model is available in a handful of African states and used more militarily than elsewhere.

The RomBAC 111-561RC, aircraft Sajin is negotiating on, is actually used more as a troop carrier than passenger jet. Its relatively short range and age means that Mihin Lanka is getting the aircraft purely � again � for expediency. The aircraft will have no real use other than to serve the AOC rules and is likely to be parked incurring charges. Airlines do not have aircraft to be parked and act as a cost centre solely! 
All this in the backdrop of the phenomenal financial losses incurred by Mihin Lanka.

Damning Bank of Ceylon report shows Rs 2 billion loss

A highly confidential report on the state of Mihin Lanka has been prepared by the Bank of Ceylon, which remains the largest lender to Mihin Lanka. Entrusted to carry out this task was the Chief Financial Officer, Bank of Ceylon, Head Office, Saliya Rajakaruna. The report tells a sorry story. 

A financial loss of Rs. 2 billion � US$ 20 million � in the space of about 12 months, without any asset worthy of note, is staggering by any standards.
The drain on the Treasury is colossal.
The Bank of Ceylon is not minded to grant any further monies to Mihin Lanka. Their track record is one of ad hoc decision making and unjustified spending. GSA�s are allowed to make money far in excess of the accepted norms, giving rise to other speculations as to the reasons for this.

Mihin Lanka is a State owned airline. They must adhere to basic principles, prior to incurring expenditure. Transparency is sadly lacking and the entire operation is run unprofessionally, leaving Mihin Lanka as a venture, in dire straits.

Saliya Rajakaruna has painstakingly done his due diligence. His comparison of the actual expenditure incurred and the Mihin Business Plan are completely at odds with each other. Soon after reading this report, Sajin Vass was summoned to see Minister Chamal Rajapaksa. 

The Minister was perturbed to note that the interest component alone that Mihin Lanka must pay each month is an astounding Rs 36 million � or in excess of Rs 1 million per day. They have no substantial assets, but have senior staff lacking in expertise- and - continue to spend lavishly, such as the recent tamasha in Singapore.

The Minister, however, was told by Athula Dissanayaka that Gunwardena was not available. Eventually, after a number of attempts Gunawardena did turn up at the Ministry to be roundly remonstrated by his Minister. He demanded explanations and reports, and insisted that he be kept abreast of developments, as it was he who was responsible to Parliament.

An incensed and furious Minister reprimanded Sajin and reminded him that Mihin Lanka was not one man�s private property � it belongs to the �mahajanathawa�, thundered a usually placid Minister. 

It was quite possible that the Minister was fully aware that Sajin is well known to have a meeting, then go to the hierarchy and convey a completely different story. 
He urged him to get his act together before it was too late.

Top Government officials at risk in the future
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Air Marshall Roshan Gunathilaka, Lalith Weeratunga and P.B. Jayasundera are all at risk due to the actions of Sajin Gunawardena. They are all open to charges by any future investigation into the finances of Mihin Lanka. Whilst they have never actively involved themselves in the running of the airline, they are all nevertheless on the Board and therefore, have a responsibility under the Constitution of Sri Lanka. Public funds are at stake. If this was a private sector company the Board Members would have all resigned or voted the CEO out of office a long time ago.

Yet, trading on the trust bestowed upon him, Sajin Vaas has consistently done as he pleases without listening to rhyme or reason or to a professional. 

Sajin Vaas Gunawardena set himself up in the airline business and has cost the state a chilling US$ 20 million. He has nothing to show for it, not even a contract for a lease on an Airbus 320 � which is what he promised in his now infamous Business Plan.

The winds of change � and poisoning
He, apparently, proceeds without regret and without the necessary expertise to run an airline. At best, he had a good vision and should have had the presence of mind to allow a professional to manage Mihin. But the winds of change have reached Sajin Gunawardena. Fast losing his appeal, in desperate moves, possibly to gain the sympathy of those that have been steadfast in giving him an opportunity, Sajin has recently claimed that he had been poisoned by parties unhappy with his various links and to destabilise the President. It is a highly unlikely scenario but it has the effect of keeping Sajin from meeting his Minister and facing his nemesis. 

Until and unless Sajin Vaas Gunawardena is prepared to accept that he is not CEO material and lacks the expertise to turn this around, Mihin Lanka is set to be a permanent drain on the Treasury � dragging the country into a mire that is getting deeper by the day � in fact, deeper by a cool Rs 1 million plus, a day.