Factory Workers Attack Private Home
By Dinouk Colombage
Oliver Jahnel’s statement about the incident, The suspects who damaged Jahnel’s property and HEMAS plant located within the MANISHA (Pvt) Ltd premises in Haldanduwana-Dankotuwa
Factory workers attached to the HEMAS plant within the MANISHA (Pvt) Ltd in Haldanduwana-Dankotuwa have been sacked following an attack on a neighbour’s house.
Oliver Jahnel, and his wife Sabrina, were in their home on July 23 at 2.45 pm when three workers from the neighbouring factory attacked the house with sticks and stones. It lasted for over 30 minutes. Despite calling the emergency police number it took 20 minutes before a unit arrived at the scene, by which point servere damage had been caused to the house including the solar panelling. Jahnel explained that it was only when he released his dogs that the men ran away. “I had released several of my dogs and luckily one of them was a Rottweiler. If they had not chased the men away I do not know what further damage would have been caused to the house,” he said.
Jahnel accused HEMAS and MANISHA of having not taken any proper responsibility for the damage caused to the house. “When we demanded compensation from the companies they said that because it happened outside of their premises it was not their concern,” he said.
However, following the incident the manager of MANISHA identified one of the men and reported him to HEMAS. The police arrested the men and took them in for questioning, they are now out on bail with the case expected to be taken up on October 22.
Jahnel questioned if both managers were able to identify the men then why was no official apology issued to him and his wife. “Official charges being laid against the three employees and they have been fired from their jobs. If the companies are willing to fire them for their actions then they should also compensate us for the damage caused. Obviously they are taking ownership of the men by firing them from their jobs,” Jahnel said.
He said that up to date HEMAS had not even acknowledged them, “I have tried contacting HEMAS but to no avail. The manager at MANISHA explained to us that it was not their concern, they too have not followed up this incident.”
He went on to explain that he and his wife have been forced to endure similar such behaviour from the workers for over a year. “The premises next to my house often plays host to the factory workers in the night. They will be up till all sorts of hours drinking, the next morning we are forced to pick up the garbage that they have left behind,” he said.
He added that he had made several complaints prior to this to the management but no action had been taken. “When they assaulted my house I had had enough, I set my dog on them to scare them away and show them I would not be intimidated in my own home,” Jahnel said.
Police spokesperson, SP Ajith Rohana, confirmed that an entry had been placed against the men and that their case would be taken up in the courts on October 22. Despite repeated attempts neither MANISHA nor HEMAS commented on the issue.
I do empathise with you and the unfairness that has been dished out to you. However, I do not see the logic, in this claim that HEMAS has to pay for the damages. It was not HEMAS that damages your house. It was their employees who did in on their own time. HEMAS cannot be responsible for the behavior of its staff outside the work environment. If that is the case, then nearly every crime committed by an employee will be the responsibility of the employer.
Ideally, you should go to court and file action against the owner of the house next to you, who has rented it out and is being used to disturb the peace, to which you have a right. As for the 3 guys who are out on bail, you should press charges without any compassion and claim all the damages possible. The chances are that they might not be able to afford to pay, but that is not your problem. They need to learn by spending some time behind bars.
Well done on sending your dog after them. Shame the dog never got to give them a few bites.
Can’ agree more with Ed, more to the point how do such trivial incidents get a headline story…..is it because the power and money of a rich dude?
one hundred percent agreed and thanks for saving my time Ed.
Ed & Johann may have got this wrong.
If company employee during the work hours go out and attacked hte hosue then the company is responsible. If not the owner who rented the house may be responsible partially.
Either way it is not about the money these people have or color of their skn that matters. If these morons tried to show their stupdity after being low class animals they should be punished for thier action. I think in Saudi they chop teir jands off for similar offences. These scum bags low class sakkili Sinhalayas.
By the way this comment is from a Sinhalaya – so don’t get feathers all ruffled up…
I am not suprised the Police took that long to come. This is SL, what can you expect. Police in SL only turn up after the crime.
The thuggery continues in Sri Lanka. Citizens and their properties are not protected. It took the police 20 minutes to get there, and people could have been killed meanwhile. Harbours and airports are being built, but the well being and safety of the people have been neglected.
These low-lifes should be dealt with severely. All decent peace loving citizens are simply fed up fed up with these type of thugs.
Jahnel,you had let them troube you for one year! Don’t you feel you encouraged
them by being non responsive?And also do you think in our country all neighbours are good friends and not the reverse in private?
It’s so sad seeing how law and order keeps eroding in our country while the criminals are enlarged on bail so easily. Everybody knows that the judicial process hardly matters in most cases.
Thank you to all of you above, I just want to say that much. There is a lot to say to each of yours opinion. Clearly the first comment from Ed got the picture a bit wrong, these guys where walking at 14.45, that is working hours or brake time. If my dogs run down to the street or into anothers gardens and bite people, of course I am responsible. Manisha has over 200 worker in their estate behind my house, that is not a industrial compound but a normal coconut estate and these guys are all of the same character, some worse, some better, most of them live there now and the village has to suffer a lot of problems with them, but I in particular, get their waste directly over the fence into my garden. But what is worse than all of that, is that the owner of Manisha, Dillan Fernando, has called me on sunday and told me like this…”Oliver, what do you want me to do, do you think I will close down because of you?….. you might have 20 dogs but I have over 200 workers..” I took that as a clear threat and reported it to the police, they went to him and questioned him on that, right after that, he called me again from his personal mobile and said: “Oliver, you know who is talking to you…you have gone too far now by sending the police after me, I will now take action….If you want to live, leave the country tonight”. That was a death threat from the owner of Manisha, that is my neighbor and the story with Hemas is very interesting as well, everything then TRIVIAL, like some of you might think. I am quite sure that the Leader will keep reporting about it, even if I might not survive until the next issue of it!I
I must say to the issue of the Police in this case, that the police under the temporary OIC in Koswatta, has been very allert and correct in handling my concerns, i don’t expect a policeman to stand by my fence and protect my white skin. I live here since 2004 and know how to protect myself, but of course it is important to see that everybody is being handled equally, no matter of its origin and not always do foreigners get such acknowledgment and are being discriminated when it comes to the sentence “You cannot do this here, this is our country” It is a nice country but it lacks what is called “discipline” badly, from top to bottom, that is why it is in such a position in the world today. Just follow the story and how Manisha is trying to keep its name klean in the village for years when those hundred of workers cause trouble not only to this “Sudda” but the whole street, they keep saying it is not us but (for example) Hemas and than look on Hemas website: http://www.hemas.lk/index.php?action=nav&project=0&main=socialres&sec=environment
and what they state publicly about “Responsible Manufacturing”…that is far from the truth, just keep reading ….
regards Oliver Jahnel
I sympathize with you. We haven’t heard the other side of the story to judge the case. However, if what you mentioned is true it’s high time that you take action against them. If I were you I would setup a couple of cameras to capture proof of all the littering and the social menace that these people are causing and release it to the media and take the case to courts. If these factories are erect in a residential area and are disturbing residential peace either they need to be disciplined or ordered to relocate. To be fair, the management of the companies might not realize the distress that you guys go through or might think of you guys as cry babies who complaint at everything. Thus having video evidence to prove your case would help you establish your case in courts or even come to a civil settlement. Good luck and keep us posted.
civility must be taught to ignorant masses. if educated knowingly did do harm punishment compensation need to be considered