SPOTLIGHT

Rohitha's waterloo

By Frederica Jansz Abusing his power as a project minister, his vehicles and security staff, The Sunday Leader learns that Industries Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama is threatening physical assault and death on a young female doctor he had an intimate relationship with for over a year. Despite having professed undying love and marriage to this young doctor, Bogollagama after the relationship broke, has begun to verbally abuse this young lady (name withheld) threatening her with death and using ministerial security to intimidate her.

In desperation, the lady in question has now appealed to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for help. On Tuesday, February 11, she begged the Premier to intervene stating she is convinced her life is in great danger "as these threats are coming from no less a person than a minister." (See box)

She alleged that after she ended her relationship with Bogollagama "based on various reasons" he began to abuse her over the phone and threatened to kill her if she failed to return numerous love letters sent by him. 

Unable to bear the situation further, the young doctor contacted Bogollagama's wife, Deepthi and returned the letters and other personal gift items given to her by Rohitha.

Just before she was due to meet with Deepthi Bogollagama however, the latter's sister, Jayathri Samarakoon it is alleged arrived at her Manning Town residence last Tuesday in the company of ministerial security and physically assaulted her.

The incident prompted this lady to write to the Premier. On Friday, February 14, she also lodged a formal complaint at Police Headquarters.

In her complaint she states that Rohitha Bogollagama has even threatened to harm her three teenage step-sons. She adds in her police complaint that both Rohitha Bogollagama and his sister-in-law, Jayathri Samarakoon have continued to threaten her with death.

While based at the Nikaweratiya Base Hospital, she alleges that even the OIC of the Nikaweratiya police station was sent to her hospital quarters to threaten her.

In this context she says that since she has no enemies other than Rohitha Bogollagama and Jayathri Samarakoon, if any physical or mental harm is inflicted on her person she will hold them both fully responsible for such an act.

The Sinhala version of some of the disgusting and vicious abuse Bogollagama spouted over his mobile phone to this young doctor who at the time was in the presence of two others who overheard this conversation cannot be printed.

Violence in the Bogollagama household is a common occurrence. It is common knowledge that Bogollagama is repeatedly beaten by his wife Deepthi, who has been known to even spray detergents into his eyes. Showing the scars and wounds from his beatings to this young doctor is how the two initially met, as Bogollagama pleaded with her to find ".... help for his wife" - who he said "had inherited .... genes, coming from a family of three .... sisters."

In fact, there are numerous complaints made at the Cinnamon Garden's police station by family members, the most recent being by Rohitha Bogollagama's own sister, Achala Bogollagama who over a separate incident, complained that Deepthi Bogollagama had threatened to break her leg.

Deepthi Bogollagama is even accused of throwing a hand grenade into her neighbour, Jagath Wijesekara's garden when she found her son had fallen in love with their daughter. Fortunately for the Wijeysekara's the grenade did not explode. She however did not stop at that but subsequently lit firecrackers under the parked double-cab used by Jagath Wijeysekara.

While The Sunday Leader is not interested in dealing with the details of a personal relationship, we would like to state here that nobody, in particular a minister, has the right to threaten another with death and physical assault under the colour of his ministerial office. Then it is an issue of public interest, more so given the Prime Minister's pledge to do away with the politics of terror. This government needless to say has repeatedly promised good governance and transparency, devoid of any abuse of power. Surely, then ministers such as Rohitha Bogollagama must be brought to book.

Over to you Mr. Prime Minister.

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Central Bank -  (un)equal opportunity employer?

By Frederica Jansz 

Following hard on the heels of the Pramuka Bank disaster the Central Bank is in crisis with a 'go slow' initiated recently by staff officers. The officers are accusing Governor, A. S. Jayawardena of being ineffective in steering economic policy in this country and making autocratic decisions. The Governor is also accused of favouring friends and associates to top positions in the institution, thus rendering one of the country's premier monetary institutions to just one more mess of bungling bureaucracy. Many of the staff at the Central Bank have been heard to refer to A. S. Jayawardena as a 'small-minded dictator.'

A sad indictment on Sri Lanka's foremost monetary department is that there are only nine employees among a staff of 1004 who are qualified PhD holders. It is a given in any country, that the central bank recruits the best of academically and professionally qualified persons through competitive examinations. Unfortunately this criteria does not appear to carry muscle in Sri Lanka's Central Bank. 

When questioned on this aspect, A. S. Jayawardena responded by saying, "Isn't nine PhD holders enough?" He explained that of the 1004 employees there is an army of security officers and clerical staff. The governor said that only executive staff following economics and statistics are encouraged to secure PhDs. "We have a career path, if it is economics, statistics and research then those people with degrees are encouraged to secure a Masters or a PhD. However if someone is chosen for bank supervision, general administration or service line then there is no requirement for a PhD but such people do receive training by the bank and are even sent abroad," Jayawardena said. 

Nadim Ul Haque, the former resident representative of the IMF in Colombo, obviously disagrees with this perception. He once said, "the backbone of a central bank should consist of at least 30% to 40% of PhD holders. This excludes security and clerical staff but should apply to all executive staff and heads of divisions."

The Central Bank Employees Officers Union is vehemently protesting against senior appointments approved by Governor A. S. Jayawardena in employing individuals from outside and bypassing the bank's senior officers. 

On September 2, last year, W. M. J Ratnapriya was appointed as director, management audit on a fixed term contract for two years. He is being paid and all-inclusive salary of Rs. 160,000 per month. He is also entitled to an EPF of 24% and ETF of 3%. Ratnapriya's EPF benefits were increased to 24% despite his contract stating that it would be only 12%.

Lack of experience

Ratnapriya is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Sri Lanka as well as the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants  (CIMA) UK. He possesses a minimum of 10 years experience as head of a finance department.

However, we found that at least seven or eight officers within the Central Bank have these same academic qualifications. They only lack the specific work experience in a respective post or department due to the fact they are constantly required to serve in varying positions and different divisions of the Central Bank. If any of these officers had been appointed to Ratnapriya's post they would have drawn a monthly remuneration package not exceeding Rs. 40,000.

This is according to the gross salary standards allocated for directors appointed from within the Central Bank.

Earlier, on March 8, 2002, D. L. Katuwawala was appointed as chief accountant. His monthly reimbursement package is Rs. 175,000 plus he is allowed an EPF contribution of 24% and ETF of 3%.

Katuwawala is also a qualified CIMA and chartered accountant. He was the former chief accountant for ANSEL Lanka Ltd. 

Again, our investigation found that there are plenty of officers within the Central Bank who qualify for this post. If chosen they too would have drawn a salary not exceeding Rs. 45,000 as against the Rs. 175,000 paid to Katuwawala.

M. A. Nandasiri was appointed as director human resources on March 27, 2002. He is paid an all inclusive monthly salary of Rs. 100,000 plus EPF and ETF benefits.

Nandasiri last served at the Standard Chartered Grindlays Bank. He possesses a degree in human resources management.

Yet again, there is evidence to show that many officers at the Central Bank in fact possess a Masters degree in business administration and would have qualified for this post. The only minus factor being they are all junior officers. All the above posts until the year 2001 were held by officers from within the Central Bank. This suddenly changed last year.

A retired deputy legal draftsman, G. G. de Silva was personally appointed by Governor A. S. Jayawardena in 1997 to the panel of legal and accounting consultants at the Central Bank. Jayawardena promised to pay him an honorarium of Rs. 2,500 per day for his services as well as providing him with transport for travel between his residence and the bank. G. G. de Silva, as a result drew a salary of Rs. 47,500 every month, working a maximum of four to five hours each day.

In 1996, soon after the disastrous bombing of the Central Bank, a consultant engineer named Merril Eustace de Abrew was appointed to help reconstruct a new building for the Central Bank. He was employed on a one year contractual basis with effect from February 1, 1996, at an all inclusive salary of Rs. 50,000 per month. To date de Abrew is retained as a consultant engineer on the panel of the bank's consultants. His contract was last renewed on October 1, 2002 for a further period of six months despite the new Central Bank building being now fully complete. He is paid a per diem fee of Rs. 2,500 per day. De Abrew is over 70 years old and an old friend of Governor A. S. Jayawardena. He is also entitled to a 24% EPF contribution and 3% ETF plus a two month bonus every year, as well as medical insurance paid by the Central Bank.

Bank scholarships

H. S. Jayasuriya, a former Senior Superintendent of Police is 65 years old. He continues to function at the Central Bank on the panel of investigators of the Exchange Control Department despite having been initially contracted in December 1998 for a period of only one year on a per diem of Rs. 1000 per day. He is also provided transport facilities from his residence at Dehiwela to the Exchange Control Department and back, all costs which are picked up by the Central Bank. He was also sent on a scholarship courtesy of the Central Bank.

R. Wijeykoon is over 60 years old. She was contracted in January 2000 to serve in the post of executive housekeeper. She is paid an all inclusive salary of Rs. 25,000 per month, but does not even hold a diploma in housekeeping. She hails from Matale, the hometown of Governor A. S. Jayawardena.

The bottom line is this. As a result of these appointments and deviation from seniority basis, top officers at the Central Bank are frustrated, asserting the decisions of Jayawardena has seriously affected staff morale, enthusiasm and their dedication to work. This has resulted in a fall-out situation as far as quality, productivity and smooth functioning of the Central Bank is concerned.

P.T. Perera, a grade four officer and director welfare at the Central Bank was one of the first legal officers to be recruited to the bank. She has served 27 years at the Central Bank and has 32 years experience as a lawyer. Yet, when her promotion came up she was told that there was no vacancy for a head of department to the legal division and instead she was moved out to another division. Subsequently she was appointed as director welfare. 

The story in the bank is that Perera was moved out of the position of director legal to accommodate Sarojini Kadurugamuwa. Interestingly, Kadurugamuwa is the daughter of former SLFP Minister, T. B. Subasinghe. More interestingly, A. S. Jayawardena's wife is T.B. Subasinghe's niece. So the family connection is evident. 

C. K. Paranavitane, holds a masters degree in economics but has been merely posted to the Welfare Department. W. Ranasinghe has passed out with a maths special degree but is also posted to the Welfare Department of the Central Bank.

That is not all. The Central Bank in the year 2000 took on board 12 trainee fund managers for the Employees' Provident Fund. They were recruited on an initial salary of Rs. 12,500 per month. After a period of two years this was increased to Rs. 29,500 per month and now seven out of this 12 are drawing monthly reimbursements of between Rs. 45,000 to Rs. 50,000. These salaries are all drawn out by the Central Bank from the Employees Provident Fund. The coup de gras as they say, is that none of these seven officers who are now on the permanent staff of the Central Bank could even pass the bank test when interviewed for permanent posts.

A serious defect in promoting officers as heads of divisions at the Central Bank has been a criteria calling for "outstanding contribution." As pointed out by the executive committee members of the bank union, Central Bank officers are posted to departments at the will of the management and there is no proper policy in practice to transfer officers.

There is also no transparent policy for providing training. The union in fact charges that favouritism plays a major role in selection of officers for training. The popular saying at the Central Bank is that "if you want to be promoted or rise in the bank the governor must like you."

There is a clear lack of equal opportunity, angry staff point out, asserting most officers in operational departments of the bank dedicate themselves to fulfil the tasks of the bank without having any training exposure, while some officers in a few departments have exposure to current developments through frequent participation in training programmes and seminars.

Controversial matter

In most departments, officers have no opportunity to write articles and to undertake research work while some officers in a few departments have opportunities and facilities to do so partly through their official duties. 

Accordingly, clear identification of outstanding contributions is a controversial matter and in this context it is unfair to apply this item when making promotions, they said. 

Another curious aspect in the present running of the Central Bank is Governor A. S. Jayawardena having initiated specialised divisions as part of the Banks' functions. For instance special projects such as the establishment of the Money Museum, the Bank's Heritage Project and the Numismatic Society are all functions that appear to have no relation to the objectives of the Central Bank.

A. S. Jayawardena has even appointed Dr. H. A. P. Abeywardena to the Bank's Heritage Project to write books on the various provinces. As a result bank vehicles are used by Dr. Abeywardena to visit the Sabaragamuwa and Uva Provinces so he can compile information for his writings.

Similar to the Heritage Project the latest acquisition of the Governor is the takeover, maintenance and running of the Fort Clock Tower from the Colombo Municipal Council. Jayawardena in fact has ingeniously got the clock tower to chime on the hour a melodious ring emanating the words "Dhanno Budunge."

It is noteworthy to remember at this point that from December 8, 2002 the amendment to the Monetary Law Act has now restricted the Central Bank's objectives to price stability and monetary policy. So where do heritage projects and currency museums come in?

We also learn that, S. J. A. Handagama, senior assistant director information at the bank is more interested in producing documentaries focused on health and nutrition rather than concentrating on channeling his talent to monetary issues that would benefit the Central Bank.

There are 36 institutions that come under the supervision of the Central Bank. It is alleged that appointments to some of these institutions like the Bankers Training Institution and the Clearing House are made through influence and management favourites of the Central Bank are nominated to these posts.

For instance, Justin Wickremasinghe was a former manager at the Clearing House before it was privatised. After this institution was privatised Wickremesinghe retired from the Central Bank and joined Clearing House as its general manager drawing a salary of Rs. 100,000.

The Central Bank still has controlling shares at Clearing House.

The Deputy General Manager,  Ariyawansa who was formerly in charge of administration at the Central Bank is also now employed at Clearing House drawing a monthly remuneration package of Rs. 50,000.

A similar situation exists at the Bankers Training Institute. Although this is an independent body, it is controlled to a large extent by the Central Bank. Here too, four retired officers from the Central Bank who share a close relationship with A. S. Jayawardena are now employed. In fact, H. M. R. Ellepola, who is over 60 years of age, and former secretary monetary board, is now employed at this institution as its chief executive officer.

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