Casino Dhammika buys Vijayakala & Buddhika

Saturday, 26 April 2014

UNP MPs Buddhika Pathirana of Matara and Vijayakala Maheswaran of Jaffna had both avoided the vote on the draft bill on notorious casino businessman, chairman of ‘Sinhala Buddhist’ Sampath Bank and transport ministry secretary Dhammika Perera’s proposed casino hotels project at D.R. Wijewardena Mawatha.

Taking the decisiveness of the strategic development project act into consideration, the UNP had decided that all party MPs should attend sittings on April 24 and 25 and also vote against it. Chief opposition whip John Amaratunga had informed all MPs about it in writing and orally.

By the afternoon of April 24, MPs Vijayakala and Buddhika had been in parliament, but went missing at the vote.

Commenting on this, a senior leader of the UNP told us it was the late MP Maheswaran, the husband of MP Vijayakala, who had been Dhammika Perera’s partner in a cargo transportation network from Colombo to Jaffna by sea. Also, MP Vijayakala now runs a luxury bus service between Colombo and Jaffna and as the transport ministry secretary, Dhammika Perera provides all the support to her. Therefore, she cannot vote against him.

MP Buddhika, who maintains close connections with casino businessmen through his father-in-law, president’s counsel Hemantha Warnakulasuriya, gets monthly paid by Dhammika Perera and cannot vote against him, the senior UNP leader told us further.