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Aborted Taiwan visit: Mayor repays Council
By Asif Fuard
The Kandy Mayor reimbursed the Municipality part of the funds he had obtained for an official visit to Taiwan, which he could not make. Mayor Kesara Senanayake said the visit had to be aborted due to an accident he had met with in Singapore.

The "accident" according to Mayor Senanayake was a motor cycle accident that took place in April this year. Mayor Senanayake was due to attend a conference in Taiwan organised by the International Union of Local Authorities from April 11 to 15 this year. But opposition Municipal Council members claimed Mr. Senanayake had left to Singapore on April 9 and had arrived back in Sri Lanka on April 13, without attending the conference in Taiwan.

They claimed the Mayor had obtained Rs. 113,000/= as travelling expenditure and another Rs.100,000/= for other expenses from Municipal funds. Mr. Senanayake when contacted by The Sunday Times said his early return was due to a motorcycle accident in Singapore. He said he was in Singapore to obtain a visa to proceed to Taiwan since Sri Lanka does not have a Taiwanese mission.

Kandy Mayor Senanayake claimed that a JVP member of the Municipal Council was behind the petition in order to sling mud at him. He said part of the money had already been paid back to the KMC, but the amount was not mentioned.

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