UNF
spent Swedish funds to facilitate LTTE deal – Govt.
Dealings went on despite talks breakdown
by Shamindra Ferdinando
Courtesy The Island 15-10-2007
The former UNF regime had spent Swedish funds to pay Customs duty on
behalf of the LTTE.
The funds made available to the Secretariat for Coordinating Peace
Process (SCOPP) through Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Office
had been utilized to pay duty amounting to Rs 3,157,675 for the import
of, what was generally categorized as, radio communication equipment.
"This payment was made by SCOPP through the Prime Minister’s
Office on the basis of its immediate reimbursement by the Treasury.
This amount has still not been reimbursed to SCOPP by the Treasury,"
Dr. John Gooneratne, the then Deputy Director General of the SCOPP stated
in a letter addressed to the then Treasury Chief Charitha Ratwatte.
Gooneratne had initially received instructions over the phone on July
22, 2003. The SCOPP auditors had been kept in the dark.
Ironically the UNP had continued to facilitate a range of purchases
including vehicles and communication equipment even after the LTTE quit
the peace process in April 2003.
The government last week released Gooneratne’s confidential letter
with several documents along with an LTTE missive addressed to Bradman
Weerakoon, the then Secretary to the Prime Minister thanking the government
approving the purchase of four more four wheel drive double cabs. S.
Pulidevan of the LTTE Peace Secretariat has written, "The Customs
duty, surcharge, excise duty, PAL, VAT and BTT is to be paid by the
government of Sri Lanka as done earlier."
The revelation by junior finance minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya comes
in the backdrop of Parliament agreeing to set up a Parliamentary Select
Committee to investigate alleged financial dealings between successive
governments and the LTTE.
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