A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Monday, July 24, 2017
SriLankan Airlines: Minister Kabir Hashim Continues His ‘Yahapalanaya Blab’ As 27 Cabin Crew Fail Flight Safety Exams
Taking to social media the general public vented their frustration and
even hurled insults at Minister of Public Enterprise and Development Kabir Hashim, after a video footage of him addressing the management of SriLankan Airlines went viral.
This was after Minister Kabir Hashim visited the offices and the
training facilities of SriLankan Airlines in Katunayake a few days ago
and went on to tongue lash and blame the former Rajapaksa led regime for
the catastrophic losses it incurred when managing the national carrier.
The contents of Minister Kabir Hashim’s speech,
where mere words regarding the national carrier have been now echoed by
the current yahapalanaya government over the last two and a half years
with no action taken, are the strong sentiments stated in many comments
uploaded especially on Facebook.
Venting his frustration a commentator named Capt. Lalith Wijetunge, a
former employee of both SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka posted on
Facebook saying ” Yes but nothing seems to have happened to turn it
around Mr Minister. The corrupt guys are still in whilst the rest are
out! Just look at the board and some managers including HHR ! A silly
joke”.
This is mainly due to the non-committal stance employed by the President
Sirisena – Premier Wickremesinghe led government to date, especially
after the airline was thoroughly investigated by a ‘Board of Inquiry’
led by Lawyer J.C. Weliamuna and his team in February and March of 2015.
The Board of Inquiry made several recommendations including the criminal prosecution of the former Chairman Nishantha Wickremasinghe and CEO Kapila Chandrasena, besides naming many employees who strangely are still employed by the airline.
However current Chairman Ajith Dias and CEO Capt. Suren Ratwatte earlier
went on to state that the ‘Weliamuna Report’ carried no weight, as
there was not sufficient proof in the ‘Board of Inquiry’ Claims.
After been taken for a joy ride in the Flight Simulator Minister Hashim
then gathered the management of the airline and went on to say “I am
always questioned by the opposition as to what we are going to do with
the national carrier. They kept on asking if we are planning to sell it.
I always said that there is nothing to sell. The only option we have is
to bury it. But President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe’s have given me instructions to resurrect this airline.
The previous government wasted funds on spending money for banners
during their political campaigns. We have not taken a red cent from this
airline for any of our political events. They even spent monies
sponsoring the famous nights races and Carlton rugby sevens. But the
airline’s unions kept mum about those things then. The former Chairman
was provided with three houses by the airline. How could he spend one
night in three houses? He was also provided with six mobile phones. They
even ordered eight Airbus 350 aircraft for millions of dollars without
any strategic planning which destroyed your airline. The total loss they
incurred was Rs 461 billion or US $ 3252 million. That is the cost
equivalent of building five highways in the country”.
Meanwhile in another unique first, the International Aviation Academy
has now implemented a ‘cash for jobs’ strategy, especially for those who
wish to join as Cabin Crew.
Despite the airline conducting its own training programme for all new
Cabin Crew recruits, the IAA run by General Manager Primal De Silva
forces those who wish to join the airline as Cabin Crew to pay nearly US
$ 2000 and follow a Cabin Crew programme.