Another tumultuous year has ended. Sri Lankans don’t believe in doing business the easy way. Why go straight from Point A to Point B if you can add argument, baste bullshit, curry controversy and drizzle debate in a spicy recipe that serves up an indigestible mess which is hard to stomach for even us easy-going [...]

The Sunday Times Sri Lanka

Some good, some bad, some nasty … a wit-laced menu of the news in 2016

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Another tumultuous year has ended. Sri Lankans don’t believe in doing business the easy way. Why go straight from Point A to Point B if you can add argument, baste bullshit, curry controversy and drizzle debate in a spicy recipe that serves up an indigestible mess which is hard to stomach for even us easy-going folk. From that man Bond, Arjuna Mahendran, to the Sri Lankan Airbus fiasco to ETCA to the foot-dragging FCID to the sour BOC-Seylan Bank deal, the list goes on and on.

Yet, there is a glimmer of hope among all this heartburn. In Jaffna the reconciliation process is best told by Navaratnarajah Nimaltan, a busboy in a new hotel opened by none other than President Sirisena himself. A locally-built race car was taking part in the world’s biggest student competition at Silverstone and a Nano revolution was taking place in Homagama underlining the creative talents of Sri Lankans. For every handful of contentious and divisive stories there is one nugget that helps us keep believing.

In 2016, the Business Times moved with the times and was at the forefront as always breaking stories as well as providing readers with a more diverse content from the trenchant new-look editorial ‘Kussi Amma Sera’ to offbeat columns like ‘Strictly No Business’ and entire pages devoted to encourage Start-ups and Technology.

We will jog your memory with this review of all our efforts to keep you informed. Happy reading, that is, if it doesn’t make you tear your hair out with frustration. Sri Lankans love to ‘Miss the Bus’. Let’s hope that will not be the case in the New Year.

Laughter is the best medicine …
In an out-of-the-box approach and instead of the run-of-the-mill repeat of stories that made the headlines in 2016, Business Times writer Alvin Sallay scans the year gone by through stories in the Business Times. His look at events in 2016 laced with sarcastic wit, humour and serious stuff had the Business Editor laughing all the way, while editing this copy. To our readers, enjoy!

 

JANUARY:

2016 kicks off with the classic example of your right hand not knowing what your left does. Two separate teams from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Finance Ministry are sent to Harvard University to participate in an economic development programme. The costs for the PM’s seven-member team, including many Cabinet Ministers, is borne by the prestigious university while the cost for the other lot was Rs.6.4 million (only course fee) forked out by the government. Was it duplication or duplicity? It seems neither party knew the other was going until they met up at Harvard. It was a case of More the Merrier. Why go to Harvard when Citizen Silva could have offered advice free of charge.

The controversial on-off Krissh deal is finally sealed. Transworks House, a British era heritage building in Fort, will make way for yet another US$650 million mixed development project. Hot on the heels of this comes another mega-investment announcement with billionaire investor George Soros promising to invest his millions (initially US$300 million) in Sri Lanka. It remained a promise as the year ends.   The local hotel industry is meanwhile hot under the covers with the news that SriLankan Airlines will pull out of Europe. No flights mean fewer tourists. The heat is also on the directors at the broking arm of primary dealer Entrust Group, removed on the orders of the Central Bank. They were sacked for putting depositors and investors at risk. How caring of the Central Bank and its governor Arjuna Mahendran.

 Off the track

FEBRUARY:

Things go off the track, momentarily. The government abandons the widely anticipated elevated monorail system and instead opts for a 42-km stretch of light rail to solve the heavy traffic congestion in Colombo. Reason – the light rail is cheaper to maintain and a more cost-effective option.

There was a lot of hot air from GSP+ to Google. GSP+ concessions will only be for seven years if we got it in 2016. This is because Sri Lanka is set to reach upper middle income country status (US$4000 per capita) by the end of 2016. Keep dreaming on all counts. Even the application for GSP+ is still pending. Google, meanwhile, launched its Google Loon balloon over the Central Province, but it emerges later that it is not a platform for free Wi-Fi. It will be free to a certain limit then you will have to reach into your pockets. Residents of Gampola, where the balloon landed, called the police fearful of an ‘Unidentified Flying Object’. They were right for the apparent anomaly they saw was sky-rocketing prices.

The ‘Police’ was also involved when ‘A Message in A Bottle’ landed on the desk of the Business Times – a unique invitation for an event promoting glass as an environmentally cleaner packaging material than plastics. “I’ll send an SOS to the World” sang Sting, an apt message these days. Talking of bottles, there was old wine in a new bottle, with the debate over whether the Indo-Lanka trade pact ETCA (Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement) would go the way of the former CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) which was ditched due to protests from industrialists. The debate still rumbles on.

MARCH:

The ugly head of controversy rears its head again inside the Central Bank (CB) with allegations that influential money market traders (read Arjun Aloysius) had purchased large stocks of Treasury bonds and sold it at a premium a few weeks later to the EPF (Employees Provident Fund). This followed the hullabaloo over the CB’s 10 billion rupee bond sale which was sold at higher than normal rates. Meanwhile Seylan and NDB (National Development Bank) are in talks to jump into bed together. It is all very preliminary as they are in the courting stage, just holding hands only (more on Seylan later in the year).

The Government announces that work on the stalled Colombo Port City will resume. Inscrutable China holds all the aces, Sri Lanka has bluffed and lost, as it will emerge later in the year. The wheeling and dealing continues. It emerges that Shalika Foundation, a Sri Lankan NGO (non-governmental organisation) is at the centre of a billion-dollar-global money laundering probe involving unknown hackers who broke into the website of the Bangladesh Central Bank. The puppeteer is from Hambantota. Whoever said this was a sleepy fishing port was wrong. There are sharks here.

The sharks are missing, only savvy scientists are around in the backwater of Homagama where the Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology is situated. The country’s first hub for nanoscience has the most number of PHDs in the country – 21- all of whom are involved in research and development of products which will give the country a cutting edge in areas as diverse as agriculture and garments. The Nano revolution is small but beautiful.

Robotics and the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Another upheaval, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the speed of innovation was the topic at a talk by Chief Guest Vajira Dissanayake at the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology. The learned professor outlined the disruptive technologies that have transformed life – from the mobile Internet to advanced robotics. But there is no need for disruptive technology among our politicians. They are in a class of their own when it comes to being unruly and troublesome – the meaning of disruptive.

Up in the hills, plantation companies and tea estate workers are at a deadlock over a wage hike. The companies and the Ceylon Workers Congress blame the impasse on the trade unions which is apparently still clinging to a model used when the British first planted tea. The hills are alive not with the sound of music but just disgruntlement. We love protests next to cricket.

APRIL:

A BT-RCB Poll shows that most Sri Lankans believe the management of the debt-ridden national airlines must be handed over while ownership must be retained. One respondent said blue-chip companies like John Keells, Aitken Spence and Jetwings should invest in the airline and that it should be listed on the stock market. Another said “Hostesses think they are God’s gift to mankind”. Having seen them at close quarters, I’m sure the latter was a tongue-in-cheek comment.

Work on the Colombo Port City resumes, at last, while the hotel industry believes the minimum rates (US$125+++) applicable to Colombo city hotels would remain in place for another two years. They must be thinking of housing all those high-end workers who arrive to work on the Port City.

Sri Lanka motor traders are up in arms over the Finance Ministry’s vehicle valuation system. They claimed officials had no clue how to value a vehicle. But apparently it is a conspiracy by some to derail the government’s revenue collection measures. Maybe it is a case of all cars are grey in the dark.

President Sirisena flies in to Jaffna for the opening of Jetwing Jaffna where the reconciliation process is getting a  5-star treatment. A group of 48 youngsters from the peninsula, including Navaratnarajah Nimaltan, have been recruited by the hotel chain to learn the trade. They did it in hotels in the South before returning to Jaffna. It is all smiles as we eat Jaffna crab curry. Everyone is patting each other on the back. Let’s hope the process continues.

While in Jaffna, wish I had a shirt which you don’t need to wash for a long time. Say goodbye to smelly and sweaty shirts with a garment created by the University of Peradeniya in collaboration with a number of leading garment manufacturers (Brandix, Textured Jersey), coming out. This is done through the use stain and water-resistant Superhyrdophobic Textiles or SHT for short, another product of nanotechnology. But if it smells, it is SHIT.

A 5-day week with the weekend off is mooted. The private sector wants it, the unions oppose it, as it would eat into overtime, while workers are unsure. At present Sri Lankans work 45 hours a week, eight hours Monday to Friday and five on Saturday. Does it really matter? Every day seems a holiday in some government departments.

Bribes

Ipaidabribe.lk hits the ground. It is a watchdog website which allows the public to report on bribery. I presume you can pay a Cop baksheesh for a traffic violation, and then also report him.

It is nothing compared to the big bucks floating around in the corporate world. Entrust Securities own the public Rs.9 billion it emerges, not Rs. 5 billion as previously estimated, just a small difference. These are the cases which must be investigated. Go after the big fish, let the minnows make merry.

Corruption is rife. As one report indicates, there is too much ‘bonding’ at Central Bank auctions. Everyone is chummy with each other and it’s all in the family, figuratively. Transparency is called for.

MAY:

The government is on the hunt for an investment bank or consultancy firm to facilitate the process of seeking a foreign partner to manage and invest in the national airline which has an accumulated debt of Rs.65 billion. The state absorbs a debt of US$3.2 billion while an order for four A350 aircraft has been cancelled. In a hurry to re-structure key state-owned enterprises, the government also says they will divest its stake in the Hilton, the Grand Oriental Hotel and the yet-to-be opened Hyatt.

They must have heard the warning from Damitha Kumarasinghe, director-general of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka, who said the country could face a major electricity crisis within two years unless authorities acted fast.

A plan for the government to suspend the purchase of new vehicles for state officials and instead allow the hire of brand new or unregistered vehicles is mooted. Is this being penny-wise, pound-foolish? With government debt standing at 76 per cent of GDP, more than 40 per cent of it on foreign currency, I would have thought a better cost-saving option would have been to book a PickMe for our venerable officials.

The ink had hardly dried before news emerged that our representatives at the Diyawanna talkshop and senior government officials were in line for a bonanza – they would get duty-free/duty-slashed vehicle import permits once again. The loss for the state would be Rs.80 billion annually but it was still felt it was worth it to get our ministers to the church on time.

After all they have so much of important work to do, like setting up the much-awaited Sri Lanka’s Agency for Development, a body to fast-track, streamline and attract Foreign Direct Investment. The original timeline was for it to be set up in two months, but 2016 is gone and it is still to get off the ground. Did somebody say fast-track or slow-pace?

Break-a-coconut

The Coconut Development Authority is looking for an auctioneer to conduct its weekly auctions. Perhaps politicians amongst the joint opposition should apply. There are many experts at breaking coconuts in that crowd who would back Belafonte’s view that ‘Coco got a lotta iron, make you strong like a lion’.

Sri Lanka Tourism marks its 50th anniversary. But celebrations are muted with hardly a promotional peep the way neighbours Singapore or Malaysia did when they turned 50. Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tourism Operators President Devendra Senaratne says this landmark is not an event that tourists would be concerned about when they travel to a destination. He has a point still it would have been nice to have had a party.

He is back. Three final year students at the Moratuwa University have developed a flexible robotic arm inspired by the human vertebral column. Maybe they could have also built a backbone for ministers in the government.

The Business Times starts a new series on Start-Ups. We want to give a helping hand by raising the profile of this new breed of entrepreneurs. One report says there is an ambitious goal to reach about a million start-ups by 2022.

The business community, using technology, comes to the aid of flood-stricken victims. The private sector armed with mobile phones, social media, e-commerce websites and others, came to the rescue quicker than state agencies.

JUNE:

The controversy over the re-appointment of Arjuna Mahendran as Central Bank chief gathers momentum. It is up to President Sirisena to make a call on a new term when his current one expires at the end of this month. Arjuna is mired in accusations that Perpetual Treasuries Ltd, a firm owned by the family of his son-in-law Arjun Aloysius, was privy to inside information in the issue of Treasury bonds and bills. Is it a case of power corrupts people or people corrupt power? A BT-RCB poll finds that 80 per cent of respondents don’t want Arjuna to be reappointed with 61 per cent going as far as calling for his resignation. Everyone jumps on the bandwagon including leading lights in the ‘Oust Rajapaksa’ campaign who cry for the head of Arjuna. But the Prime Minister’s office backs Arjuna for a new six-year term.

The fireworks continued when the Shangri-La Resort and Spa in Hambantota opens in a grand ceremony graced by the President. A straw-roof near the pool is set ablaze by sparks from the fireworks. Must have been a good omen for the Hong Kong owners who love pyrotechnics, after all it was the Chinese who invented this stuff.

A team from Harvard University has been asked to diagnose Sri Lanka’s economic growth ills. As we said earlier, any Silva, Perera or Fernando could have identified the reasons – bloated governments full of corrupt politicians hell-bent on lining their pockets. No need for Soros or rocket science to realise this.    The computers of the local NGO accused in the Bangladeshi bank hacking case come under forensic scrutiny. Like the Pink Panther, our CID is hot on the trail.

Arjuna Ranatunga sheds light on how recruitment for security officers at the Ports Ministry is done – he gets his fellow-ministers to send in nominees and he would select from that. At last, one minister brave enough to admit that Yahapalanaya is just a term to be thrown around, not practiced. This is just too much to take in and we need some Reddy yoga to lift our spirits. Dr. Radha Reddy shows a group of enthusiasts on International Yoga Day (June 21) how to relax and de-stress. Our spirits are lifted, momentarily.

Mahendran circus

JULY:

The Arjuna Mahendran circus drags on with a section of the government led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe keen to keep the besieged Central Bank governor but on the second day of the month the crisis ends (or it appears to be) when respected economist Indrajith Coomaraswamy is named Governor by the President. Another government institute, SriLankan Airlines, meanwhile, mulls over cutting routes. The airline is also in talks to re-lease three A330 aircraft to Pakistan International Airlines. This is part of restructuring the debt-ridden airline. Ours, not PIA.

Soft drink bottles have colour codes indicating the amount of sugar in it. An official of a local beverage company says while he agrees customers should have “an informed choice” it would also “instill fear in the consumers’ minds”. All that sugar? You bet.

A Supreme Court interim ruling on VAT causes confusion and uncertainty about the enforcement of this tax. Should it be 11 per cent or 15 per cent? No one knows. VAT a mess. There is another pol mess at Mackwoods Group, a family feud fueling fears of a protracted court battle.

A BT-RCB street poll shows people are unhappy over the progress of the FCID. One critic says the drama during arrests is “like a Tamil film in South India with a different script everyday”. But it’s not drama, just comedy.

The government announces plans to scrap the minimum hotel rates resulting in mixed feelings in the tourism industry. Just goes to show you can’t please all the people, all the time. The government also announces it will sign ETCA with India by end of 2016. The year is over, and another promise dashed.

We kick off a new series, ‘Strictly No Business’. Our first subject is Ajit Gunewardene, art buff and deputy chairman at John Keells Holdings.

AUGUST:

Sri Lanka’s tax collection in a major mess. Taxes are announced and collected even though they have not been approved by parliament. Taxpayers are not obliged to pay, says one tax expert. A BT-RCB poll, however, discovers that taxes are essential and the government has a right to tax the people. Just get it sorted out first.

There are more headaches for the government when professionals walk out on discussions on ETCA. Meanwhile hopes are high of regaining GSP+ in the first quarter of 2017. Hope this is not another ETCA deadline. In another announcement, the government says it will be discussing with potential partners for SriLankan Airlines interested in its restructure by January 2017, yet another deadline.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka commences export of goats to Male for breeding and training purposes. No politicians were spotted when the first consignment was shipped.

SEPTEMBER:

There are worries whether the tea industry will survive the 21st Century. Rising debt, lower prices and a dwindling workforce threatens its sustainability for another 100 years. Could coffee be the answer? Some estates are looking at it as an alternative crop.

DJ Harpo is in the groove while Kishu Gomes uses public transport to see if it works, or not, as ‘Strictly No Business’ looks at the life and times of leading personalities.

As if it doesn’t have enough on its plate, it is estimated SriLankan Airlines will lose US$56 million in revenue owing to the three-month day closure of the Katunayake Airport (from January 6) for emergency repairs on an ageing runway. Exporters like DSL Lanka (Douglas and Sons) will be hoping the runway repairs will not have a huge impact. The makers of soft toys like Alvin and Meiya widely export their products to the US, Europe and Asia. It will be available in Sri Lanka soon.

Top public officials including Ministry Secretaries could soon be driving Mercs and Beamers with their monthly car allowances being increased from Rs.300,000 to Rs.425,000. And we thought this government lacked money.

Uproar among fishermen

OCTOBER:

Thousands of fishermen and their families launch a fresh protest over the Colombo Port City project. They are worried that dredging – if done three km from the shoreline instead of 30 km – will affect their livelihood. Maybe it is time for them to give up fishing and learn Mandarin fast as we become subject to China.

You have seen the Bond movie where 007 coolly wins a million bucks at the Poker table. That is nothing compared to Bond trader Perpetual Treasuries who pocketed a cool Rs.6 billion – post-tax profit in the year ending March 2016 – far above market trends. “How could they be making huge profits when every other company made a small profit or loss” moaned one bond trader. Sour grapes or was it sweet inside information? A Central Bank report says that Perpetual Treasuries put itself and the primary dealer system to “extreme risk by biding excessively without a contingency funding arrangement”.

Surprise, surprise Mihin Lanka ran at a loss ever since it got off the ground in 2007 an official says. Everyone knew this. Another statement, from JC Weliamuna, the chairman of a committee that probed corruption in SriLankan Airlines, had more resonance. He said the people behind the decision to purchase four Airbus A350s at an inflated priced should answer for the dreadful crime. The government had to fork out Rs.25 billion as a settlement to the leasing company after scrapping the deal. If this deal hadn’t been scrapped, the government would have had to pay US$890 million monthly to meet its obligations. Swiss investigators also flew in to see if there was any connection to an international probe on allegedly corrupt deals by the French-based aircraft manufacturer. It seems airlines in Sri Lanka has a certain ‘Je Ne Sais Quoi’ about them, a quality that makes every rogue want to plunder her.

NOVEMBER:

Time waits for no man, even if they are Susantha Ratnayake and Ajit Gunewardene, the chairman and deputy chairman of John Keells Holdings. It announced the pair would retire soon – Susantha in December 2018 and Ajit a year earlier.

While some are on the way out, Chaturika Rajapakse, 26, was set to assume duties as possibly the first female ‘sinna dorai’ at the Queens Town estate in Hali Ella. In another case of changing times, the Education Ministry said it would replace text books with computer tablets. Ahh, how I miss those brown paper covered books.

Bamba’s ‘mango-friend’ days

There were plenty of memories of the good old days from Bamba flatters. Illicit love affairs, stealing mangoes from the neighbours’ trees, wooing the girls was all part of life at the flats which is expected to soon be turned into a glitzy modern condominium.

There is a hubbub over the fact that former Ambassador to Russia, Udayanga Weeratunga, has a website identical to the Sri Lankan embassy in Russia website. It’s titled ‘Previous website of Embassy of Sri Lanka’ and carries the Sri Lanka government logo. He understands the need for branding.

As does Merrill J. Fernando, the tea industry veteran, who warned that cheap imports of tea to Sri Lanka for blending will destroy the Ceylon Tea brand and endanger its industry and two million dependents. What’s in a name asked the Bard in Romeo and Juliet. Plenty, it seems.

DECEMBER:

The Sunday Times Business Club presents another out-of-the-box discussion on ‘Sri Lankan music, tradition, modernisation’. This is also in tribute to the memory of the great Amaradeva.

As ever, we think big. Sri Lanka’s 2017 Budget has over-estimated its tax revenue. The Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance estimates revenue will fall short by Rs.136 billion. Thinking big is also on the minds of Hilton Hotels which is eyeing more properties in Sri Lanka. Their plans include Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Dambulla and resort hotels in the South. They are looking for a partner since they are only involved in management. The government is in bed with Hilton in Colombo.

Trade unions flex their muscles over Sri Lanka’s application for the resumption of GSP+ and demand that the country complies with international labour laws. Apparently the situation is bad in several export processing zones. Are we running sweat shops?

Sri Lankan investment banker Rienzi Edwards faces charges in US court after an indictment was filed in a Washington on six persons, including Rienzi, on charges of swindling investors to the tune of over US$50 million. Rienzi tells the Business Times he will “comply with the law to the letter”.

Seventy per cent of Sri Lankans rely on indigenous medicine like Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha, an international conference of the same announces. Meanwhile a group of tourists are spotted in Pettah chewing betel. Perhaps they also want to go native.

Meanwhile await the next instalment of ‘this’ series soon – on December 31, 2017 ! Ha dear reader, caught you there! Best wishes for 2017.

 

 

 

Mahendran circus

 

JULY: The Arjuna Mahendran circus drags on with a section of the government led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe keen to keep the besieged Central Bank governor but on the second day of the month the crisis ends (or it appears to be) when respected economist Indrajith Coomaraswamy is named Governor by the President. Another government institute, SriLankan Airlines, meanwhile, mulls over cutting routes. The airline is also in talks to re-lease three A330 aircraft to Pakistan International Airlines. This is part of restructuring the debt-ridden airline. Ours, not PIA.  

Soft drink bottles have colour codes indicating the amount of sugar in it. An official of a local beverage company says while he agrees customers should have “an informed choice” it would also “instill fear in the consumers’ minds”. All that sugar? You bet.  

A Supreme Court interim ruling on VAT causes confusion and uncertainty about the enforcement of this tax. Should it be 11 per cent or 15 per cent? No one knows. VAT a mess. There is another pol mess at Mackwoods Group, a family feud fueling fears of a protracted court battle.  

A BT-RCB street poll shows people are unhappy over the progress of the FCID. One critic says the drama during arrests is “like a Tamil film in South India with a different script everyday”. But it’s not drama, just comedy.  

The government announces plans to scrap the minimum hotel rates resulting in mixed feelings in the tourism industry. Just goes to show you can’t please all the people, all the time. The government also announces it will sign ETCA with India by end of 2016. The year is over, and another promise dashed.  

We kick off a new series, ‘Strictly No Business’. Our first subject is Ajit Gunewardene, art buff and deputy chairman at John Keells Holdings.  

 

AUGUST:

 Sri Lanka’s tax collection in a major mess. Taxes are announced and collected even though they have not been approved by parliament. Taxpayers are not obliged to pay, says one tax expert. A BT-RCB poll, however, discovers that taxes are essential and the government has a right to tax the people. Just get it sorted out first.  

There are more headaches for the government when professionals walk out on discussions on ETCA. Meanwhile hopes are high of regaining GSP+ in the first quarter of 2017. Hope this is not another ETCA deadline. In another announcement, the government says it will be discussing with potential partners for SriLankan Airlines interested in its restructure by January 2017, yet another deadline.  

Meanwhile Sri Lanka commences export of goats to Male for breeding and training purposes. No politicians were spotted when the first consignment was shipped.  

 

SEPTEMBER:

 There are worries whether the tea industry will survive the 21st Century. Rising debt, lower prices and a dwindling workforce threatens its sustainability for another 100 years. Could coffee be the answer? Some estates are looking at it as an alternative crop.  

DJ Harpo is in the groove while Kishu Gomes uses public transport to see if it works, or not, as ‘Strictly No Business’ looks at the life and times of leading personalities.  

As if it doesn’t have enough on its plate, it is estimated SriLankan Airlines will lose US$56 million in revenue owing to the three-month day closure of the Katunayake Airport (from January 6) for emergency repairs on an ageing runway. Exporters like DSL Lanka (Douglas and Sons) will be hoping the runway repairs will not have a huge impact. The makers of soft toys like Alvin and Meiya widely export their products to the US, Europe and Asia. It will be available in Sri Lanka soon.  

Top public officials including Ministry Secretaries could soon be driving Mercs and Beamers with their monthly car allowances being increased from Rs.300,000 to Rs.425,000. And we thought this government lacked money.  

 

Uproar among fishermen

 

OCTOBER:

 Thousands of fishermen and their families launch a fresh protest over the Colombo Port City project. They are worried that dredging – if done three km from the shoreline instead of 30 km – will affect their livelihood. Maybe it is time for them to give up fishing and learn Mandarin fast as we become subject to China.  

You have seen the Bond movie where 007 coolly wins a million bucks at the Poker table. That is nothing compared to Bond trader Perpetual Treasuries who pocketed a cool Rs.6 billion – post-tax profit in the year ending March 2016 – far above market trends. “How could they be making huge profits when every other company made a small profit or loss” moaned one bond trader. Sour grapes or was it sweet inside information? A Central Bank report says that Perpetual Treasuries put itself and the primary dealer system to “extreme risk by biding excessively without a contingency funding arrangement”.  

Surprise, surprise Mihin Lanka ran at a loss ever since it got off the ground in 2007 an official says. Everyone knew this. Another statement, from JC Weliamuna, the chairman of a committee that probed corruption in SriLankan Airlines, had more resonance. He said the people behind the decision to purchase four Airbus A350s at an inflated priced should answer for the dreadful crime. The government had to fork out Rs.25 billion as a settlement to the leasing company after scrapping the deal. If this deal hadn’t been scrapped, the government would have had to pay US$890 million monthly to meet its obligations. Swiss investigators also flew in to see if there was any connection to an international probe on allegedly corrupt deals by the French-based aircraft manufacturer. It seems airlines in Sri Lanka has a certain ‘Je Ne Sais Quoi’ about them, a quality that makes every rogue want to plunder her.  

 

NOVEMBER:

 Time waits for no man, even if they are Susantha Ratnayake and Ajit Gunewardene, the chairman and deputy chairman of John Keells Holdings. It announced the pair would retire soon – Susantha in December 2018 and Ajit a year earlier.  

While some are on the way out, Chaturika Rajapakse, 26, was set to assume duties as possibly the first female ‘sinna dorai’ at the Queens Town estate in Hali Ella. In another case of changing times, the Education Ministry said it would replace text books with computer tablets. Ahh, how I miss those brown paper covered books.  

Bamba’s ‘mango-friend’ days

There were plenty of memories of the good old days from Bamba flatters. Illicit love affairs, stealing mangoes from the neighbours’ trees, wooing the girls was all part of life at the flats which is expected to soon be turned into a glitzy modern condominium.  

There is a hubbub over the fact that former Ambassador to Russia, Udayanga Weeratunga, has a website identical to the Sri Lankan embassy in Russia website. It’s titled ‘Previous website of Embassy of Sri Lanka’ and carries the Sri Lanka government logo. He understands the need for branding.  

As does Merrill J. Fernando, the tea industry veteran, who warned that cheap imports of tea to Sri Lanka for blending will destroy the Ceylon Tea brand and endanger its industry and two million dependents. What’s in a name asked the Bard in Romeo and Juliet. Plenty, it seems.  

 

DECEMBER:

 The Sunday Times Business Club presents another out-of-the-box discussion on ‘Sri Lankan music, tradition, modernisation’. This is also in tribute to the memory of the great Amaradeva.  

As ever, we think big. Sri Lanka’s 2017 Budget has over-estimated its tax revenue. The Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance estimates revenue will fall short by Rs.136 billion. Thinking big is also on the minds of Hilton Hotels which is eyeing more properties in Sri Lanka. Their plans include Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Dambulla and resort hotels in the South. They are looking for a partner since they are only involved in management. The government is in bed with Hilton in Colombo.  

Trade unions flex their muscles over Sri Lanka’s application for the resumption of GSP+ and demand that the country complies with international labour laws. Apparently the situation is bad in several export processing zones. Are we running sweat shops?  

Sri Lankan investment banker Rienzi Edwards faces charges in US court after an indictment was filed in a Washington on six persons, including Rienzi, on charges of swindling investors to the tune of over US$50 million. Rienzi tells the Business Times he will “comply with the law to the letter”.  

Seventy per cent of Sri Lankans rely on indigenous medicine like Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha, an international conference of the same announces. Meanwhile a group of tourists are spotted in Pettah chewing betel. Perhaps they also want to go native.

Meanwhile await the next instalment of ‘this’ series soon – on December 31, 2017 ! Ha dear reader, caught you there! Best wishes for 2017.

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