Anti-Corruption body probes Basil’s birthday bash!

By Shanika Sriyananda

The anti-corruption commission yesterday commenced an inquiry into the alleged misuse of State funds amounted to Rs. 2.9 million by a former chairman of a State institution to print banners and publish birthday greetings during the previous regime.

The initial investigations of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into Serious Acts of Fraud, Corruption and Abuse of Power (PRECIFAC) found that former Chairman of the Upcountry Development Authority Amarananda Banda Weerasinghe has allegedly misused State funds to print banners to welcome former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his visits to Kandy and also for newspaper advertisements greeting former Economic Affairs Minister Basil Rajapaksa on his birthdays.

The authority was given allocations for several development projects including funds by the Sri Lanka Tourists Board to upgrade toilet facilities in the supermarket of the Kandy Municipal Council to cater to the foreignerswho visit Kandy.

Following the directives of Chairman Weerasinghe, the balance funds of those projects had not been returned to the Treasury but had been spent on printing banners and publish birthday greetings in newspapers to please former President Rajapaksa and his brother, former Minister Rajapaksa.

PRECIFAC sources said he had violated the stipulated procedure of spending State funds. “The authority should have furnished a report on its spending on each project and the balance of funds to the Treasury. If they have a balance from the funds, they are required to submit a fresh proposal for another development project to get approval from the Treasury. But he had not followed this process in spending the balance funds,” sources said.

When some officials had opposed him for spending the balance funds in this manner, he had boasted saying he would not be afraid for as long as Minister Rajapaksa was in power, the sources said.

The preliminary investigations will be carried out by a team of Police investigators led by ASP Lalith Abeysekara and assisted by the Chief Inspector GeethikaBodhipaksa and Inspector Anuradha.

With the change of Government, Weerasinghehas gone to Australia with his family to live with his son but summons have been sent to his residence in Kandy as well as the address in Australia.