Ambassador Liyanage’s unjust criticism of Stafford Sri Lankan School of Doha

I write in my personal capacity as an individual who has been associated with the Stafford Sri Lankan School in Doha for the past over 10 years from 2007.

This school is the only Sri Lankan school for our people working in Qatar to educate their children. It was first established in 2001 with about 50 children and now it has over 1,200 students with a staff of over 100.

My association with the school was the result of my visits to Doha to conduct lectures in the MBA Programme operated by the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM). On such visits from 2007, I also lectured and taught at the Stafford Sri Lankan School. Accordingly I came to be well acquainted with the school, its staff and the trustees who managed it.

Last week A.S.P. Liyanage who is the current Sri Lankan Ambassador in Qatar held a media conference in Colombo and what he said was reported in several newspapers. He was very critical of the school’s management and spoke unjustifiable falsehoods.

Liyanage accused the school’s Trustees of poor administration, mismanagement and even fraud. He said that some of the students and parents had complained to the Embassy of unfair treatment, lack of amenities and poor service (totally untrue). He also said that the Embassy was compelled recently to provide an air-conditioned unit and a laboratory to the school.

Liyanage added that in view of poor management, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had directed that with effect from 10 September 2017 that the Sri Lankan Embassy in Doha should take over the school under a sponsorship programme. Liyanage did not elaborate what this “sponsorship programme” was to be. The foreign office in Colombo has denied issuing such a directive.

I am surprised and dismayed at the above statement by Ambassador Liyanage. I have checked up with the school’s management and Trustees and they have also issued responses to the newspapers denying Liyanage’s statements as diabolical lies. 

The Trustees have also consulted lawyers and are taking action to sue Liyanage in Colombo Courts for defamation. On my own, I wish to state that Liyanage’s criticisms of the school, the lack of amenities and about complaints of children and parents are unjustified and false. 

I also know about a month ago Ambassador Liyanage had attempted to freeze the bank accounts of the school, but thankfully this was unsuccessful.

I now relate an interesting story about Liyanage and this school. He was appointed our Ambassador in Qatar in early March this year. In late April, I was in Doha on the MBA Programme for PIM. I invited Liyanage to attend my lectures. He agreed and came with the Governor of our Central Province Niluka Ekanayake who was visiting Qatar at that time. Both of them and I were also invited to the Stafford Sri Lankan School, Doha and all three of us went there as guests of the school and its Trustees. 

On that occasion Liyanage and Ekanayake addressed all the students and teachers and praised the school saying that it was the best school for Sri Lankans they had seen in a Middle East country. They both said that they will inform our President Maithripala Sirisena about their visit and that the Stafford Sri Lankan School of Doha should be given all help by our country for the excellent service it is performing.

That is not all. A few days later Ambassador Liyanage went as the Chief Guest of the school to open a new Primary Section of the school adjoining the current premises. He did so and again praised the school in his speech as the Chief Guest. He also gave a token donation of Rs. 50,000 and said it was a personal contribution from him to the school. 

On that occasion, he mentioned my name because I was in the audience and said: “I am asking Dr. Weerasooria who is present here today to hasten the Cabinet Memorandum which had been prepared by Lakshman Kiriella and send it to Liyanage as well, because he will also support and endorse the Cabinet Memorandum as the new Ambassador.”

This Cabinet Memorandum had been prepared earlier by Kiriella, Minister of Higher Education, after he attended the school’s Convocation in January 2016. This is only a draft and it has the support of Thalatha Athukorala, Minister of Foreign Employment and Dr. Harsha de Silva, then Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Accordingly I cannot believe that after all this publicly-declared support for the School, Liyanage is now doing just the opposite, criticising the school and its management and talking of Embassy control of the school.

Liyanage is not a career diplomat. He is a political appointee. He was formally Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Ambassador in Nigeria. He was also a presidential candidate at the presidential elections of 2010 and 2015. Any additional information about him could be obtained from the websites.

As a non-career Ambassador, Liyanage should appreciate that Embassy sponsorship of a Sri Lankan school in the Middle East country like Qatar is a “Notional Sponsorship” and in Middle East countries it is a required norm. The Sri Lankan Embassy has not contributed one cent to this school since its inception and in my view embassies cannot operate and run schools in foreign countries.

As I stated earlier, in his media statement Liyanage had stated that he had been directed to take custody of the school from 10 September 2017. I checked up with the Foreign Ministry and I am informed that no such directive had been issued.

Together with those who are fond of the Stafford Sri Lankan School in Doha and its contribution to the Sri Lankan people living in Qatar, I sincerely urge Ambassador Liyanage not to interfere in the affairs of the school, but to concentrate on its diplomatic functions as an Ambassador.