Columns

Even if murders, crime and accident rates are rapidly rising, Police Chief Pujith Jayasundera, has the time to care for the social needs of those linked to the underworld.

Last week, two Police stations in the Greater Colombo area were given orders to take security precautions, of all things, for a wedding ceremony of an underworld family. The brother of an underworld king pin was getting married last Thursday. Their rival group was planning to snuff him out when he was with the bride and other guests at a reception hall.

Personnel from the two Police Station had onerous security duties. One lot checked all the vehicles including the one in which the bride and the groom were to travel. They were looking for weapons. Another group ringed the reception hall.
There were plainclothesmen inside watching closely on those assembled. So much so, a guest who would easily have found a place in a gang was questioned on his connections to the bride and the groom. He passed the test.

When the reception ended, a Police escort helped the bride and groom going for their honeymoon in a vehicle. They melted away in the heavy traffic and the officers and men breathed a sigh of relief that their boss’ orders were carried out without anything untoward happening.

There seems an unusual moral to the story. It is not only those in high society for whose weddings Police security would be available, but also for kingpins of the underworld. More so, if they have a rival gang to fight.

Two new UL directors press for Hill
Has the top post in SriLankan Airlines – the Chief Executive Officer – been offered to one of the early incumbents, Peter Hill?

Insiders say at least two new directors are pressing for the appointment of 72-year-old Mr Hill. He served as CEO of SriLankan until a spat with then Monitoring MP for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sajin de Vass Gunawardena. It was over dislodging fare paying passengers to accommodate an official entourage from London that had accompanied then President Mahinda Rajapaksa when SriLankan had a partnership with Emirates. It even resulted in the partnership breaking down.

Insiders also say that Mr Hill may seek approval to bring along another colleague in the airline industry if he is indeed given the job. He may also seek dual citizenship, they say.

SLFP rebels also at party rally
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) rebel group of 16 who voted for the no-faith motion against Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe will take part in their party’s May Day celebrations at Eravur in Batticaloa on May 7.

This is notwithstanding a decision by them to sit in the Opposition benches from May 8. They seem to want one foot here and another foot there, enjoying the best of both sides of the House.

Whilst the UNP will have its rally at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo, the ‘Joint Opposition’ will have its rally, also on May 7, at the ramparts in Galle.

President angry over immunity given to fugitive envoy
As is now known, Sri Lanka’s chief diplomats in Washington DC and Moscow during the previous administration, both close relatives of then President Mahinda Rajapaksa, are now wanted by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID).
Just this week, the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court renewed a warrant for the arrest of Jaliya Wickremasuriya after he failed to turn up in court.

It now transpires that an official in the Foreign Ministry had issued him a document claiming that he enjoyed diplomatic immunity. Hence, it has been argued that the purchase of a building to house the Sri Lanka Embassy in Washington DC where there has been an embezzlement of funds cannot be probed in the light of this.

The move had angered President Maithripala Sirisena. He has sought to ascertain how this had come about. Diplomatic immunity, in terms of the Geneva Convention, does not apply in this instance, said an official source.

In the case of Udayanga Weeratunga, Sri Lanka’s onetime Ambassador to Moscow, now detained in Abu Dhabi, officials of the Attorney General’s Department are still busy formulating documents to initiate extradition proceedings. The bills for the arrest of the fugitive envoy are mounting in the process.

Drunk driving: Magistrate not influenced by shot from the Bar
The ongoing heat wave is taking a heavy toll in the North. The Jaffna Magistrate court was told this week that a school teacher who was accused of driving under the influence of liquor had to consume a couple of alcohol ‘shots’ to keep cool in the unusual heat that prevails in the region.

A lawyer from the Jaffna Bar (no pun intended), appearing on behalf of the teacher told the court that the accused teacher is not a regular drinker but an occasional imbiber. He reasoned to the judge that his client had consumed liquor since he has to travel a lot amidst the heat.
The Magistrate did not appear to be convinced. He fined the teacher Rs 7,500 for the offence of driving under the influence of liquor and ordered the police to suspend his driving licence for nine months. This week alone, more than twenty people have had their driving licences suspended for drunk driving in the North.

Mr. Builder eyeing Finance Ministry
Amidst moves for a ministerial reshuffle, a politico known for his contributions to his party, provoked some laughter.
The man, who holds another portfolio and owns a business empire, was campaigning in his own way to become the Minister of Finance. Others in the party laughed it off. But the way ‘scientific appointments’ are to be made, anything is possible nowadays.

Controversy – as always on Presidential delegations
Social media reports that President Maithripala Sirisena was accompanied by a large delegation, some saying more than a 100, for the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting in London, were cause for concern for the Presidential Media Division.
The division in a statement countered these reports and claimed that the President was accompanied by his spouse, his official doctor, Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana and his wife, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, a language interpreter and two officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In the process, even the names of Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Trade and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, who went for CHOGM-related events were not mentioned. Perhaps, expenses for their trips including the air fare were paid for by their respective ministries. Technically, therefore, they were not part of the Presidential delegation.

Hastening to issue clarifications or denials after reports have appeared seems to have become a pastime for those at the PMD. Requests by the media ahead of the Sri Lanka delegations visit drew no response and now doubts are being raised over the PMD’s latest claims too as photographs appearing in local media show various persons from Colombo posing or appearing with the President in London.