Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation had Rs. 89 m in moveable assets

By Ashwin Hemmathagama, Our Lobby Correspondent

The fate of the controversial Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) operating in the Northern and the Eastern part of the island before the defeat of the LTTE in May 2009 was reconfirmed on Thursday in Parliament in response to a question raised by the opposition lawmaker, TNA MP S. Shritharan.

According to the clarification made by the Ministry of Defence, the TRO had Rs. 89 million worth of movable assets comprising motor vehicles and Rs. 30.6 million worth immovable property at the time of the issue of Extraordinary Gazette No. 1529/13 on 26 December 2007 banning the organisation and its activities in the country.

The TRO, which was registered under the Company Act No. 17 of 1982 under number N (PBG) 922/021619 on 10 September 2003, had been functioning in the North and the East since 1987. 

In addition, it has obtained a different registration as a non-governmental organisation under L50706 on 27 June 2002 at the Ministry of Social Services. 

However, the TRO’s controversial operations had forced the Government to ban its activities and to confiscate both tangible and intangible assets.

During the period it was in full swing the TRO had maintained seven bank accounts with both local and international banks. The accounts, operated at Bank of Ceylon, People’s Bank, Pan Asia Bank, Seylan Bank Plc, Commercial Bank Plc, Hatton National Bank Plc and the Standard Chartered Bank, have reported an accumulated cash balance of Rs. 530 million as at 28 August 2006. However, the total of Rs. 89 million found in its bank accounts along with the assets had been confiscated by the Government as per the section 4 (a) of the Extraordinary Gazette No. 1529/13 on 26 December 2007 and the section 7 (1) of the Extraordinary Gazette No. 1583/12 on 7 January 2009.