News
COPE finds Karunanayaka influenced Lotteries Board procurement causing losses
By Saman Indrajith
Former Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake had influenced the procurement process of the National Lotteries Board, which was under the purview of the Foreign Ministry, during the yahapalana government, it was revealed during a probe by the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).
The COPE, on Friday, found that a tender for the procurement as regards the printing of scratch lotteries in 2017 had been suspended by the Cabinet decision at the request of the then Foreign Minister.
Even though the then Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera had made an observation that suspending the tender was not right, the Cabinet had decided to do so
The COPE met in the Parliamentary complex under the chairmanship of Prof. Charitha Herath to look into matters to the Procurement on the Print and Delivery of Lottery Tickets of National Lotteries Board, found that the tender for the printing of scratch lottery tickets due to be awarded to Aqua Flex Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd., had been stopped. That Cabinet decision had been made under the influence of Print Care Secure (Pvt) Ltd., and it had caused a huge financial loss to the National Lotteries Board. It had not been possible to call for a new tender for the printing of relevant lottery tickets until 2020.
Sources said that it had also been revealed that the annual reports of the National Lotteries Board for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 had not been submitted to Parliament. Accordingly, the COPE called for a probe into the matter.
The COPE also observed that there had been a large number of vacancies in the executive posts of the National Lotteries Board over the years and COPE chairman directed the relevant officials to fill them expeditiously.
The Committee pointed out that the National Lotteries Board had spent Rs. 609 million in 2016, Rs. 453 million in 2017, Rs. 506 million in 2018 and Rs. 530 million in 2019 on printing lottery tickets.
The COPE recommended that the procurement process of the institution should be carried out in a more systematic manner and that the process of printing lottery tickets should be properly regulated.
It was revealed that the company had not yet received the amount of US $ 26,000 due from the ‘’Colombo Airport Super draw’’ and the lottery draw process of ‘’Dollar Fortune’’ was not transparent. Therefore, the committee also recommended that the process be streamlined.
Ministers Mahinda Amaraweera, Sarath Weerasekera, State Ministers Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Susil Premajayantha, MPs Jagath Pushpakumara , Eran Wickramaratne, Nalin Bandara, Patali Champika Ranawaka, S.M. Marikkar, Premanath C. Dolawatta , Secretary to the Treasury and Ministry of Finance S.R Attygalle, National Lotteries Board Chairman Attorney at Law Lalith Piyum Perera and a number of officials were present at the Friday meeting.
It was decided at the cabinet meeting held on 18-12-2024 to appoint an officers’ committee under the chairmanship of the Secretary to the Prime Minister for submission of a report after reviewing non-commercial
institutions owned by the government. The appointed committee has already reviewed 160 institutions, and it has been decided to obtain the assistance of a subcommittee comprising the members in the field for reviewing 36 higher education centers, including the universities.
The following recommendations have been submitted by classifying 124 institutions under 09 categories, except this institution.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Prime Minister to implement the aforesaid recommendations.
The Sri Lanka Navy seized an Indian fishing boat and apprehended 03 Indian fishermen while they were poaching in Sri Lankan waters, during a special operation conducted in the northern sea area off the Delft Island, Jaffna on the night of 17 Mar 25.
Taking into account the impact of those practices on the livelihood of local fishermen, the Navy continues to conduct regular patrols and operations in Sri Lankan waters to curb illegal fishing practices of foreign fishing boats, trespassing into island waters.
The seized boat and the three Indian fishermen were brought to the KKS Harbour and they will be handed over to the Fisheries Inspector of Mailadi, Jaffna for onward legal proceedings
News
Police under greater pressure to track down IGP on the run as CA rejects bid to stay arrest order
Having dismissed the writ petition filed by Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon on the run, the Court of Appeal yesterday (17) ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to arrest him and produce him in Court.
The IGP sought an interim injunction to prevent the execution of the arrest order issued by the Matara Magistrate’s Court on February 28 against him in connection with the shooting incident that took place in Weligama, Matara, on Dec, 31, 2023.
The Court of Appeal bench, comprising its Acting President Justice Mohamed Lafar Tahir and Justice Sarath Dissanayake dismissed the petition without a hearing.
The petition filed by Tennakoon before the Court of Appeal was earlier taken up for consideration on March 12 but the decision was put off to March 17.
The IGP’s legal team made a last minute bid to prevent an arrest order by submitting a motion requesting an opportunity to submit additional documents related to the case.
However, in terms of an agreement between the Attorney General (AG) and the counsel of six other policemen implicated in the Weligama shooting, the AG ordered the CID not to arrest the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) and five other policemen implicated in the case.
Cabinet nod to review report on non-commercial institutions owned by the Government
Navy seize an Indian fishing boat poaching in Northern waters
Allen, Seifert and bowlers combine to hand NZ 2-0 lead in rain-shortened contest
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