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Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera has ordered an immediate halt to exorbitant allowances claimed by National Lotteries Board directors and senior staff for taking part in “lottery draws.”

This follows exclusive revelations in the Sunday Times (Café Spectator) last week. Our report bared details of how “about Rs 8.1 million (or exactly Rs 8,1456,750) has been drawn by the Chairman and four directors for ten months from January to October 2017. Only one director had declined payment. In addition, senior staff (220 of them) had drawn a whopping Rs 41 million (or exactly Rs 41, 711, 250) for the same ten month period.”

Minister Samaraweera has named an official committee to come up with a new set of allowances both for the National Lotteries Board (NLB) and the National Lotteries Development Board (NLDB). He wants to implement this from January 1 next year.

The committee is headed by P.M.P. Atapattu, Director General of the Department of Finance, and includes Public Enterprises Division Director G.K. Nammewa and Public Management Service Director G. Samarasinghe.

The Finance Minister has told the committee memebers that they should come up with an amount commensurate with the tasks they carry out and identify those who will be entitled to such allowances. Since revenue for lotteries came from poorer sections of the society, he has told the committee that this money should not be abused.

Notwithstanding this, on a board paper presented by the director who did not accept allowances, a decision had already been made by the NLB to lower the allowances. However, a Finance Ministry official said the Committee will forward its report to the Minister.

Another aspect the committee will examine is whether the NLB Chairman had adhered to a Public Enterprises Circular (PED 3/2015) where drawing of such allowances has to be not only decided by the Board of Directors but also the concurrence of the Minister of Finance needs to be obtained.

These developments came as NLB Chairperson Shyamila Perera, sent what she called a “clarification” on the Sunday Times report. In essence it confirmed the facts in our report but sought to justify the payments. Highlights of her letter, relevant to last week’s report, appear below with comments from Jamis Banda (in italics).

n In terms of the NLB rules, the NLB lottery draw is conducted under the direction of the head of the organization. In order to ensure the accuracy, transparency of each draw an authorising panel consisting of one member from the board – i.e. the Chairman or Director or GM or Addition GM or CFO from the NLB and a member from the Auditor General’s Department and a senior Police officer sit at the draw to confirm the official results of each draw.

The Sunday Times report did not refer to the accuracy or transparency of the draw process. It is irrelevant. As is clear, it made the point that the Board of Directors as well as management personnel have drawn millions of rupees of what ought to be the public’s money.

n Around 20 officers and employees of all categories attend the draw per day. The staff who attends to draw duties work between 5-7 hours after 4.15 pm daily. While the draw comes to a close around 9 p.m. some of them have to work until around 11 p.m. in order to close the related activities and dispatch results to the district dealers.

The most important question is whether the NLB Chairperson feels that such large amounts need to be paid for them to work extra hours. See the montage on this page for the list of payments for 220 management staff and the board of directors. The amounts drawn in some instances are equal or more than half the amounts involving their salaries.

n We emphasise no fraud or illegal activity has taken place with regard to these payments.
Firstly, no such claim has been made in the Sunday Times report. Secondly, and much more importantly, Finance Minister Samaraweera has through his actions acknowledged that the amounts paid have been colossal and exorbitant. The fact that he named a committee to examine the matter in itself is further acknowledgement that the Chairperson’s justification is without any basis, more so when public funds are involved.

n The management is unaware that a Rs 92,000 made to a director had been donated to a poor family.
As reported last week, the director in question has donated this to a female employee who had been rendered homeless. All that the management would have to do is ask him instead of casting aspersions on a director appointed by Finance Minister Samaraweera.

Loan waiver for security forces before polls
Those in uniformed services are in luck’s way. The loans they have drawn from their respective institutions may be waived requiring them to pay only interest on the amounts drawn.

A proposal to this effect is now under active consideration by the Government. Official sources said the move is expected to be implemented within weeks, certainly ahead of the local elections.

Envoy in Russia gets extension
The tenure of Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Russia, Dr. Saman Weerasinghe, has been further extended from December 31 to February 28, 2018.
Due to complete his tenure in September this year, his term was earlier extended till December.

Mendis pays Rs. 6 billion arrears as excise duty
A private local liquor manufacturing company, W.M. Mendis & Co., owed the Finance Ministry a staggering Rs. 6 billion as excise duty.
The payments had accumulated over a period of time. Just weeks earlier, the Finance Ministry sent the company a final warning before cancelling its licence to operate.
Pronto, the Rs. 6 billion owed to the Treasury was settled.

Monitoring of police  officers’ phones; citizen seeks info under RTI Act
R.S. Bamunusinghe Arachchige from the World Trade Centre in Colombo has used the Right to Information Act (RTI) to ask the Police Commission whether a front page story in the Sunday Times is correct and what action It proposes to take over the matter.

The report on December 3 was headlined “Phone monitoring: Police Commission takes case to CC.” Mr Arachchige has asked whether the Police Commission has launched an inquiry into the allegations made by the Senior DIGs that their telephone records were being sought by Police Chief Pujith Jayasundera. Our report said that the head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Senior DIG Ravi Seneviratne revealed how Police Chief Jayasundera wanted telephone records of senior officers.

The request has been directed to Commission Secretary N. Ariyadasa Cooray. Commission sources said the independent body does not have the jurisdiction to probe the conduct of the Police Chief since he does not come within the definition of the Public Officers Act.

The RTI request also includes a query on whether any action has been initiated in respect of the Director of the SIU (Special Investigations Unit) who had allegedly sought details without a judicial order.