Despite landmark judgment

Sumal: Laughing all the way to the bank

Original owners get Rs. 312 pp,
Sumal gets 600,000 pp

Sumal says lawyers told him not
to speak to media

Land owners undervalue purchase price
and send money to Hong Kong account

20 perch blocks sold for Rs. 12 m while
some undervalued on paper 

By Sonali Samarasinghe

While the landmark Kotte Golf Course Judgment delivered by a pumped up Supreme Court last month smacked modest fines of Rs. 3 million, Rs.2 million and Rs. 1 million on former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, her long time ally Ronnie Peiris and the three original shareholders of Asia Pacific Golf Course Ltd., respectively, business tycoon and Access Group Chief Sumal Perera, once dubbed Komis Kakka by the former chief executive may be laughing all the way to the bank. 

Early last month Sri Lanka's Supreme Court made history yet again when it ordered that the Water's Edge Golf Course and Club house and all surrounding land including the residencies be handed over to the UDA to be used for the original public purpose for which it was acquired.

The court held the land was knowingly, deliberately and manipulatively sold to a private entrepreneur through a process that was conniving and contrary to the Fundamental Rights of the people and that the transaction reeked of corruption. It also noted that Kumaratunga's friend Ronnie Peiris had obtained a sum of Rs. 60 million in profit from this transaction.

Unscathed

Meanwhile Sumal Perera came out of court relatively unscathed. His biggest windfall will perhaps come from the 105 plots of land some 20 perches each for the construction of 100 luxury holiday villas on stilts, most of which Perera hawked in 2003 and 2004 to private buyers at a price of over Rs. 12 million per lot - that's Rs. 600,000 a perch. 

While some paid Rs. 12 million direct to Asia Pacific Golf Course Ltd., a company wholly taken over by Sumal Perera from the original owners on June 17, 2003 and such payment was reflected in the deed as the full consideration for the transfer, other buyers allegedly undervalued the payment reflected on the Deed but claimed they were requested to send the rest of the money to an account owned by Sumal Perera in Hong Kong.

Foreign account

For instance some undervalued their purchase amount by reflecting Rs.5 million on the deed but deposited the rest of the Rs. 12 million - that is Rs. 7 million in a bank account in Hong Kong.

It is learnt the account name was Transcontinental Investments (Pvt) Ltd., a company owned by Sumal Perera. Transcontinental is situated on the 18th floor, Lincolan House, Taikoo Place, No. 979, Kings Road, Quarrbay, Hong Kong.

Transcontinental

But let's put Transcontinental Investments into perspective. Recall that Sumal Perera in June 2003 bought out the fly by night company Asia Pacific Gold Course Ltd., specifically set up to receive massive swathes of government land at concessionary rates and terms, from its original owners Siva and Suen Selvaratnam and Shantha Wijesinghe.

The total investment capital of this company was Rs. 68.2 million. There were 35 shareholders. Sumal Perera invested 16.8 million, Transcontinental Investments Pvt. Ltd., invested Rs. 28.2 million, Access Agencies Pvt. Ltd., some Rs. 10.4 million and Access Engineering (Pvt.) Ltd., Rs. 5 million thus coming to a total of Rs. 60.5 million. The rest of the 31 shareholders invested Rs. 7.7 million.

The biggest investment came of course from Transcontinental, a company allegedly owned by Sumal Perera.

Sources close to the buyers claim that many buyers siphoned their purchase consideration to this fund. Already The Sunday Leader learns that two buyers deposited Rs.24 million and Rs.7 million respectively while their transfer deeds reflected an undervalued amount less than Rs.12 million per 20 perch block.

Investigating account

The issue is this. What exactly is this account run by a company owned by Sumal Perera and was it the account that paid out Rs. 60 million to Ronnie Peiris? If so a simple investigation into the activity of this account by the Bribery Commission may perchance reveal uncomfortable details and shore up a long list of beneficiaries who received seemingly untraceable funds from this account.

Afterall it is no secret Sumal Perera plays banker to many politicians of every hue in exchange for favours while in office.

For the Bribery Commission already directed by court to conduct a full inquiry into the dealings of several of the respondents in this case this account may prove a good starting point.

Note also this. According to the judgment itself the original shareholders of Asia Pacific were holding the majority of shares in the company in trust for Ronnie Peiris described by court as a man who procured and peddled executive favours. The profit Ronnie Peiris derived from the sale of the company to Access was therefore Rs. 57.2 million as he was the beneficial owner of 600,020 shares at Rs. 10 per share. At the time Access bought into 50% of the company in 2002, Asia Pacific only had a paid up capital of Rs. 15 million.

Some buyers are livid. "Sumal utilised our money for other development and he is getting compensation while we are taken to the cleaners," they accuse.

Crucial meeting

Indeed 20 of the buyers were to call up the Access Chairman after the court order and demand a meeting.

Accordingly the buyers met with Sumal Perera at the Water's Edge Club House and demanded to know the situation. Perera had been defiant. "Don't come after me," he had allegedly said. "I am taking this matter up in the Hague. I will get this land back," he allegedly claimed. "I will get the Minister to divest the land to the original owners and then buy it off them with the money I get."

"Don't come after me," he had reiterated laughing almost hysterically according to one land owner. "I'm only Sumal. You go after Asia Pacific. I have to pay many debts. I have to pay  Nawaloka Construction." he had allegedly said.

He also offered the land owners to become creditors of Asia Pacific, an offer they could easily refuse.  

The Sunday Leader attempted to get a comment from Sumal Perera on all these matters but he declined his privilege for right of reply. 

It is following this meeting that several land owners decided they would take legal action. Accordingly last Thursday (13) they sent Letters of Demand to the Chairman, Asia Pacific Golf Course Ltd., and to the UDA demanding damages in a sum of Rs. 44 million estimated as the current market value of the land.

Legal action

The Letters of Demand sent by Attorney At Law G.G. Arulpragasam stated as follows inter alia -

"Subsequent to the such pronouncement of the said judgment by the Supreme Court, my client has lost all rights, title and entitlements to the said land and other rights despite my client having fully paid and settled all the sums of money and consideration related to the transaction between my client, you and Urban Development Authority.

"I am instructed by my client to write to you, you having the full knowledge and access to the real nature of the transaction between you and Urban Development Authority have suppressed and misrepresented material facts in inducing and luring my client to purchase the said land for a valuable consideration and thus defrauded my client. By doing so you have unjustly enriched at the expense of my client wherein you without holding legal and lawful title to the property has collected large sums of money from my client. I am instructed by my client to write to you specifically taking up the position that your company has defrauded my client.

"I am instructed by my client to write to you in view of the aforesaid findings of the Supreme Court of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and consequences of such findings, it is now apparent you acting in collusion with the said Urban Development Authority without having any legal and lawful right title and interest to the said lot of land have sold and transferred the aforesaid allotment of land for valuable consideration and specifically agreed as aforesaid to warrant and defend the title."

What Sumal Perera gets

Here's the deal as far as Sumal Perera and the October judgment is concerned. The total extent of 225 acres of land on which is situated the Golf Course, the club house and the plots of land for luxury villas must now revert to the UDA. However in consideration of the construction of buildings by Asia Pacific Golf Course Ltd., the UDA will pay to Asia Pacific a sum representing the cost of construction of the buildings as at the date of construction, excluding all other development on the said land as assessed by the Chief Valuer. 

From this amount the UDA will withhold the sum of public funds spent by the Kaduwela Pradeshiya Sabha (KPS) who the court held had clearly been deceived into spending its money to fill up 7.8 hectares of land originally vested with the KPS but later allocated to Asia Pacific.

Sumal Perera and Asia Pacific would also be able to remove all movables within four months of the judgment and hand over vacant premises on or before February 8, 2009.

No fine for Sumal

The judgment may have ordered fines on the one hand and costs of Rs. 500,000 be paid to each of the petitioners in the case on the other by a selection of the 14 respondents, but Sumal Perera was not one of them.

In the final page of the 61 page judgment the Supreme Court directed the Bribery Commission to conduct an immediate inquiry into the transaction under all relevant laws on the actions of former President Kumaratunga, Ronnie Peiris and original shareholders of Asia Pacific Golf Course, Siva Selvaratnam, Suen Selvaratnam and Shantha Wijesinghe but neither Access Group nor Sumal Perera now the owner of Asia Pacific Golf Course were netted in with this group.

Popular club

Certainly Perera's highly popular and oft frequented Water's Edge enterprise has served him well in monetary terms during its operations. Perera and the Access Group is a much larger entity than its recent purchase, Asia Pacific Golf Course Ltd. The Access logo continues to fly high on government projects including the mega construction of a fly over bridge at Nugegoda.

Abandoned by all however, it is the buyers of the luxury villas that find themselves left in the lurch with even Sumal Perera allegedly dismissing their claims with a flick of his hand vowing he will not pay them back.

However it was a lure of luxury they would not easily forget. 

Like the elitist Romans of 50BC according to Goscinny and Herge who were lured by glib advertising at arenas into buying luxury villas in the fictitious Mansion of the Gods, only to find themselves in the dangerous neighbourhood of a little Gaulish village that housed the formidable duo Obelix and Asterix the latter choc full of magic potion the other bathed in it, these businessmen and entrepreneurs were seduced by dreams of nature parks and what not.

And just as in 50BC when the construction of Caesar's Mansion of the Gods would have potentially ruined a forest and wiped out the wild boar -  staple diet of the little Gaulish village so did the construction of Water's Edge denigrate the wetlands of Battaramulla and wipe out the fishing cat not to mention eight other species of threatened animals.

Lured

These buyers were lured into purchasing these plots due to several reasons. Firstly the UDA featured prominently in their dealings thus dressing the deal with a legitimacy and respectability it obviously did not have. Secondly while Asia Pacific Golf Course Ltd., was a relatively unknown company that was in fact cloaked in dubiety the Access Group logo that accompanied the brochures again instilled a certain confidence at least of financial viability in the potential buyers.

The Sales Agreement also undertook to construct roads, provide water and electricity with Sumal Perera allegedly promising buyers that the construction of the villas would attract duty free concessions as the project was BOI approved.

Besides, blocks 27 and 28 were purchased by Mahinda Wijesekera and his kith and kin. Wijesekera was not only a cabinet minister at the time he was a signatory to the several Cabinet Memoranda on the subject initiated by Chandrika Kumaratunga and the PA government.

Promise of heaven

For that matter President Mahinda Rajapakse was also a member of that cabinet and even though Kumaratunga is held to have mislead cabinet no minister can divest him or herself from collective responsibility.   

Meanwhile, what's not to like the potential buyers would have thought to themselves as they rushed to put pen to paper.

Sumal allegedly invested only Rs.16.8 million in the Asia Pacific Company under his own name with all the rest of the moneys for construction of the Club House and Golf Course coming not only out of the sales of the land for luxury villas but also the sale of premium club membership at Rs. 250,000. In fact the buyers of the land were not offered free membership either but were merely offered the choice of purchasing membership which was limited to a certain number.

Sumal Perera says some land owners have asked them to be creditors in his company but many are unhappy with this suggestion stating they did not do business with his company.

Hell on earth

Land owners say even their assessment numbers have been granted to them from the Kaduwela Pradeshiya Sabha while they have been given registered ownership and the government which is the final authority and regulator has been implicit in the transaction from start to finish. "So where do we stand?"  they ask, dismissing the principle of Caveat Emptor or Buyer Beware as unfair in this instance.

Even the judgment states that the land was recommended to Asia Pacific by the UDA in response to Asia Pacific's original inquiry letter (Page 8 of the judgment). UDA also voluntarily offered the cabinet to use the Chief Valuer's valuation as the basis on which the land to be sold. (Page 31 of the judgement)

The Sunday Leader contacted Sumal Perera for a comment however he declined to do so stating his lawyers had advised him not to speak to the media.

Paid Rs. 312 per perch

Ironically the original owners of the land were paid compensation of only Rs. 312 per perch when the land was acquired by the UDA for the public purpose of urban development and ostensibly for increasing the parliamentary administrative complex and for providing water retention as a low lying area, in 1988.

Some of these original owners later intervened as Petitioners in the Fundamental Rights case stating they were deprived of their land by the state not to serve any public purpose but rather to benefit a private company. 

Deeds signed by UDA

Not only that, even though a glitter of shining lights of the business world dazzled by the Water's Edge brochure that promised boating, golf, nature parks and water front residencies now rushed to buy up their holiday home away from home in the marsh lands of Battaramulla once home to nine threatened species of animal including the fishing cat, they little anticipated the fate that would befall them some five years on.

Little wonder that they didn't. After all their deeds were signed not only by Sumal Perera, a private entrepreneur and by then owner of Asia Golf Course Ltd., it was signed by a more formidable entity. The Urban Development Authority itself. 'Surely,' a businessman is entitled to think.  'If the arm of the state is involved what could go wrong?' What indeed!

No doubt the presence of the UDA in the transaction with these businessmen buying their future holiday villas was to instill in them a sense of trust and confidence. Small time crook in comparison though he was compared to some of those politicians, public officials and others impugned by the Supreme Court, Sakvithi Ranasinghe had a similar plan of action. He too instilled confidence in his victims by showcasing a number of allies and partners either with or without their knowledge.

Nonetheless a large number of Sri Lanka's rich list now entered the Water's Edge Villa list. Primary among them were of course the children of Sumal Perera - daughter Swasha and son Shamal. Both purchased five lots each while his brother in law D.D.S. Ferdinando got one and directors of Asia Pacific Golf Courses Ltd., Ranjan John Suriyakumar Gomez and Joseph Christopher Joshua seven plots each. (See box for others who had purchased plots)

Be that as it may for those unrelated to Sumal Perera life at the edge of the water now holds no real thrill. Millions poorer and with no hope of redress and with Perera refusing to pay them back, their only recourse is the law of the land. The very law mind you that took away their land in the first place.

Running circles around Kilinochchi

 Akkarayankulam captured three times

"Kilinochchi" advances far from the town

57th Division effectively stalled for over a month

GR lashes out at FR lawyers

AF dropped a 'Hiroshima' worth of
bombs in the Wanni

 By RanjithJayasundera

On July 31, 2008, in the tail-end of an election campaign, the government announced that the army had entered the Kilinochchi District. Spurious reports about the imminent fall of Kilinochchi Town have followed ever since.

Yet three months and at least 526 dead and 3,102 seriously injured or maimed young soldiers later,  the latest reports available claim that the army is still a whole 9 km. from Kilinochchi town, and is yet to cross the deadly A-9 highway at any single point.

These reports give the lie to several statements from some of the most senior figures in prosecuting this war. President Mahinda Rajapakse announced in New York on September 22 that the army was a mere 4.5 kilometres from Kilinochchi.

Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake announced on the eve of the August provincial council elections that Kilinochchi town might fall "even tomorrow." And the ever-astute Army Commander, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka claimed nearly two months ago at a book launch that several buildings in Kilinochchi could actually be "seen" from the soldiers' positions then.

Super-vision

It is a pretty tough bet to see even the mighty World Trade Centre in Fort from 10 kilometres away, but the Army Commander claimed that several weeks (and much more than 10 kilometres) ago, buildings in the Tiger headquarters town were clearly visible. Barring super-vision, that was also a lie.

It is relevant therefore to ascertain what territory the security forces have in factliberated from the Tigers and how much further they have to go before claiming like George Bush six years ago, 'Mission Accomplished'so that the people canhave realistic expectations as to when the war will end as opposed to politically motivated deadlines dished out by the government and its media propagandists.

Thus realistically theforce closest to Kilinochchi, the army's 57th Division, has had a far tougher time than the day to day reports from the Defence Ministry or Media Centre for National Security claim.

Should we cite any of the sources available to us that give the reality of the sour, gruesome picture on the battlefront, we run the risk of being shut down under the prevailing draconian media environment, yet there is enough information in the Defence Ministry reports to present at least an abstract of the ground realities up north.

False victories

For example on October 18, the Defence Ministry reported that the 57th Division had secured the LTTE's defences around the Akkarayankulam tank. Two weeks passed with little mention of the 57th Division and its exploits, and then the Ministry announced on October 30 that the army had captured the Akkarayankulam tank itself, as opposed to just the defences around it.

A further week passed with no word from the Defence Ministry on 57th Division's exploits, and then on November 7, the Defence Ministry announced that the army had captured the "Akkarayankulam built-up," which itself is a whole 9 kilometres away from Kilinochchi town.

In between each of these announcements we were treated to news of the various exploits and victories of Task Force 1 in capturing areas of the west coast with little resistance. So truth be told, the army pointing at Kilinochchi had, in the three weeks between October 18 and November 7, advanced but a distance of three kilometres.

In this time, there were no reports of heavy LTTE resistance on any front. Despite this, the number of soldiers seriously injured or maimed in October spiked to 1,122 from the previous month's peak of 997.

Three times in three weeks

After Akkarayankulam was captured one way or another three times in three weeks, there has been a dip in reporting on the imminent fall of Kilinochchi. By all accounts, 57th Division's advance has once again reached a sticky point, with little news of any advance towards Kilinochchi town.

What the Defence Ministry has done instead to keep up the hype is focus on the achievements of Task Force 1, which has cleared the western coast in the Kilinochchi District and not the town.

While the 57th Division is ploughing into the heart of Kilinochchi at snail's pace and allegedly with heavy casualties, Task Force 1, which is making the headlines capturing several areas on the north western coast, is effectively avoiding and going around Kilinochchi in its advance.

This is a prudent military tactic even under the current risky strategy of fighting an attrition war against a guerrilla terrorist group; however it has little bearing on efforts to capture Kilinochchi town.

Thus what the Defence Ministry is doing is announcing the fall of several bastions in the "Kilinochchi District" such as Nachchikuda, Kiranchi, Devil's Point and others in order to cover up the lack of progress toward Kilinochchi town itself, over what has now been a period of almost one month.

Not an easy task

The map on this page shows both how far removed these areas are from Kilinochchi town, and how the shape of the army's advance demonstrates that taking the LTTE capital is not a job on the plate of Task Force 1.

The government spin machine has already begun to compensate for the fact that the fall of Kilinochchi will be a while. The 'mission' of the army as stated by the Defence Ministry is slowly being shifted to that of opening a land route to Jaffna with advances in Kilinochchi and Mulaithivu being relegated to 'by-the-ways.'

What the government  seems to do, with its strategy of putting up 'territory maps,' is to try and maximise the areas it can claim to have captured, and thus present the LTTE as surrounded before a general election. While the Tigers are 'surrounded' in Kilinochchi and Mulaithivu, Mahinda Rajapakse can once again unleash his determined charm on the southern masses and lure them into swinging another election his way.

"LTTE has begun to withdraw"

This would be difficult if the army instead of capturing territory, kept bashing its head against the brick wall that is Kilinochchi town. Another strategy used by the Defence Ministry in its web site, is to announce that the LTTE has begun to withdraw rapidly from Kilinochchi town, thereby playing down the significance of taking the city.

Gotabaya Rajapakse had these realities fully planned out when he gave an interview to the November edition of Business Today magazine. In the interview he stated that the "task at hand" for the military was to "open a land route to Jaffna," while relegating Kilinochchi and Mulaithivu to 'also-rans.'

Apart from creating a land route to Jaffna, "we are also threatening other key points such as Paranthan, Kilinochchi and eventually Mulaithivu," the Defence Secretary stated, playing down completely the likelihood of an imminent fall of Kilinochchi.

Rajapakse also found himself a new enemy apart from the usual human rights activists and media personalities he so often chastises. In the Business Today interview he came out stronger than ever against "lawyers who submit FR applications" and who "don't have to worry about national security" thereafter. 

"Law point is inadequate"

Speaking of these evil lawyers, the Defence Secretary said that "they are not required to understand that hardcore LTTE cadres hardly ever talk. They ask 'why are you detaining such a person without producing him in court after detaining him or her for three months?'" he complained.

He said that the "law point" of the lawyers filing FR motions "is inadequate" and that "there have been instances where the legal system has released suspects who have after their release turned up as suicide bombers."

"The FR lawyers must understand that we do not enjoy arresting individuals and it is not a game," he warned, asking what would happen if someone released through an FR petition was "part of a team sent to the city to orchestrate a major attack?"

In effect, under the emergency regulations, the Supreme Court cannot order the release of anyone as long as the Defence Ministry shows even the slightest shred of evidence that the person may be chargeable for a terrorism related offence. It doesn't take much, and J.S. Tissainayagam will vouch for that.

What Rajapakse is seeking is a Guantanamo-style system of being able to arrest anyone he pleases with no oversight whatsoever, and he makes it clear these "FR lawyers" are standing in his way. He fails to realise that all strata of US society have condemned the Guantanamo system or infinite, arbitrary detention despite the fact that it applies to foreigners, aliens, people of the distant lands of Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond.

Power to detain citizens

Here the Defence Secretary is seeking the power to detain citizens of his own country - well, ours actually since he's an American citizen - indefinitely in their own motherland without giving them any recourse to appeal.

This is also a man who has boasted, as Mangala Samaraweera revealed in parliament, that the government has unloaded 14.4 million kilogrammes of bombs in the Wanni. He seems proud of that achievement.

14.4 million kilogrammes of today's military grade explosive is equivalent to the explosive force of over 18 kilotonnes of TNT. The nuclear weapon dropped by the United States on distant Hiroshima had an estimated yield of between 13 to 18 kilotonnes of TNT.

President Harry Truman, at the time of that bombing announced it with somewhat near the appropriate sense of grimness. Anti-western elements in the government are also quick to point to the US  as the only country in the world that has deployed nuclear weapons against an enemy nation.

Sri Lanka has no nuclear weapons, but from what Samaraweera tells us in parliament we have set a record of our own. We are the only country to drop enough bombs over an area to equate a nuclear yield, on our own soil over the homes of our own people.

Of that achievement, Rajapakse seems immensely proud, and as long at the public continues to swallow the government's mighty morphing propaganda effort of protecting a perpetually imminent victory, the country has yet to see the bulk of the suffering that war will bring.