Rs. 20 million office building for minister John

Oct 25, 2015

The tourism ministry is planned to be shifted to a newly-built building at Park Street in Colombo, with the ministry getting a Rs. 20 million allocation for the monthly rent for the 20,000 square feet facility, according to reports.

Ministry officials are strongly objecting and dejected about this wasteful expenditure. They point out that the income of the entire ministry stood at between three to four billion rupees, and there are many buildings owned by the ministry. Therefore, it is a national crime and an insult to the good name of the present regime to spend such a sum on a building.

Reliable sources say the minister has got the money for the building allocated without cabinet approval, but by abusing his official powers.

He can get Rs. 20 million out of the ministry money allocated without cabinet approval. The chairman of the Tourist Board, too, can get Rs. 10 million allocated without cabinet approval.

The sources say further that the middleman in this deal is Amaratunga’s son-in-law, former Commercial Bank chairman Dinesh Weerakkody.

At present the tourist ministry is located in two places, at the Tourist Board building in Kollupitiya and at the Insurance Corporation building.

Even UNP ministers are dejected that topmost government officials had rejected their calls for a Rs. 5 million payment to find a building for their use, while keeping silent on this wastage of public money through the mediation of persons like Weerakkody, who were closest allies of the former Rajapaksa regime.

Reports say these ministers are to raise this with the government hierarchy and to lodge their protest against this deal to discredit the government by getting closest allies of the previous regime.