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Reshuffle of top officials at SriLankan
View(s):Several senior officials identified in the report of the board of inquiry on SriLankan Airlines will see their “duties reassigned” next week, authoritative sources said. The management will also seek government consent to an internally drafted restructuring plan. SriLankan has bled an estimated US$ 850 million within the past four years and needs urgent reform. The airline has 7,000 employees.
There will be a “reorganisation of the internal charts” within the next few days, one of the sources revealed, adding that the management was handling a host of other longstanding problems. The official declined to be named. While positions and duties formerly assigned to certain senior officials will change, “nobody will lose jobs”, it was confirmed. The management has also given an assurance that any action taken on the board of inquiry report will be fair and constructive.
The objective is to arrest the decline, get the airline back on track and to make it a viable venture, the sources said. This could take a minimum of two years. Privatisation, “if at all”, will only take place in the future.
The board of inquiry spotlighted widespread abuse of power, financial irregularities and external interference in the running of the airline. The more serious allegations have been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department and the Commission Investigating Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC).
Among other things, the inquiry held former Chairman Nishantha Wickramasinghe and Chief Executive Officer Kapila Chandrasena responsible for “gross abuse of power”.
It said there was “clear inconsistency” in the manner in which rules and regulations were applied at SriLankan Airlines due to the influence of Mr. Wickramasinghe, Mr. Chandrasena, Chief Operations Officer Capt Druvi Perera and Head of Human Resources Pradeepa Kakulawela.
It noted that Head of Security Major General P. Chandrawansa and several senior staff members had authorised duty leave for employees to participate in political rallies of the former Government.