News
Wakf Tribunal charges Ministry with neglect
View(s):‘Sri Lanka Wakf Tribunal’ (SLWT), the Board which appoints trustees to mosques islandwide and deals with complaints regarding appointments, has been neglected by the Department of Muslims Religious and Cultural Affairs,” said a Managing Trustee of the Shaikh Usman Waliyullah shrine and Masjid (Dewatagha Mosque), Reyyaz Salley.
He also told the Sunday Times that the SLWT, a three-member panel that includes a retired High Court judge and two reputed lawyers, has not been provided with a proper place to conduct their meetings, while their salaries and facilities too have been neglected by the Ministry.
“I requested the Minister to increase their salaries and their fuel facility, but this has been ignored. SLWT members are not even given vehicles,” said Mr Salley.
“A committee member receives only Rs 700 for a sitting which lasts from around 9 am to 2 pm, and sometimes even longer. In comparison, a Corporation Director gets around Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 for a sitting,” he said.
According to SLWT Secretary, Ibrahim Zarook, the Board lacks basic facilities such as a proper place to conduct sittings, staff and office equipment.
He said the committee had sent letters to the former President and the present Minister for Muslims Religious and Cultural Affairs, Abdul Haleem, but to no avail to date.
Minister Haleem has agreed to meet them on May 21 to discuss the SLWT’s grievances.
However, Minister Abdul Haleem told the Sunday Times that he is not aware of any such issues and that the committee is functioning well.
Department of Muslims Affairs- Director, M.H.M. Zameel said that the SLWT holds meetings and discussions at the Ministry premises.
“There are two separate Boards, one is the Wakf Board of Sri Lanka and the other is the SLWT. They each have separate buildings for their meetings and discussions,” he said.
He admitted there are some outstanding issues and was looking forward to discussing them and resolving them.