In a move to re-build confidence and repay borrowings taken from disgruntled depositors, Vajira House Builders (Pvt) Ltd, a troubled building construction company, has obtained a directive from the Colombo Commercial High Courts to conduct a meeting with depositors and to obtain their consent for a re-payment plan. Colombo High Court Judge Gamini Amarasekera has directed the company to report the progress of these meetings when the case will be taken up for hearing on November 26.
The Court was informed that the company has conducted meetings with 56% of depositors out of the total number of 270 depositors. An official of the company told the Sunday Times FT that 76% of depositors have agreed to their repayment plan and they will repay the money amounting to Rs186 million within two and half years commencing from January next year. He said that the construction industry has taken a huge beating over the past two years and the building sector is at a standstill even now.
However Vajira house Builders (Pvt) Ltd is managing its affairs at a satisfactory level in the face of the adverse impact of the global downturn, especially on the real estate market. Several depositors alleged that the company deceived them by accepting deposits from them as investments for property development projects and issuing them with borrowing certificates.
Depositors have written a letter to the Secretary to the President, the Inspector General of Police and the Governor of the Central Bank informing them that the company has promised to pay 22 to 25 % interest for their deposits taken as investments for house building project at Malabe in 2007 and it has stopped the payment of interest and refused the repayment of their capital as it is facing liquidity problems. Therefore they urged the authorities to intervene and find a redress to their problem. |
E-mail