Ceylinco, Sakvithi depositors refute state media report

By Elmo Leonard

Agitating Ceylinco and Sakvithi depositors held a joint media conference last week to refute the (January 3) lead article of a state media Sunday English language publication. The article said that the wronged depositors would be compensated. The depositors’ representatives said that since the problem surfaced, nothing like a solution was in sight.
“The problem is far more compounded and grows more horrifying by the month, while the authorities remain unconcerned” Golden Key Depositors’ Association (GKDA), President, Anusha Emmert charged.
In the article in question, the interviewee had distorted facts to make out as if the government and Central Bank (CB) authorities were acting responsibly, in the best interest of depositors, but the opposite was apparent, they said. Meetings with government and CB authorities, the Attorney General’s department had borne no fruit and was a waste of time thus far; instead absurd “solutions” were proposed.
The groups of depositors called the Ceylinco United Investors’ Association met as a body for the first time, the situation being critical. They were unanimous in alleging that that all the legal proceedings they undertook were biased against them and politically motivated towards corruption. They had also no faith in the “Lakshman Watawala commission” set up recently.
The meeting was represented by defaulted investors of GKDA, F & G, Sri Ram, Ceylinco Investors and Reality, Ceylinco Property Sharing, Sakhvithi and Ven Nakalagamuwa Gnana Wimalaratne Thero.
The depositors’ associations alleged that the government which was corrupt on the issue was involved in a campaign to whitewash themselves and present a wrong picture to the public.
The Venerable Thero who is from the south of the island, had come forward because he found many poor people in the rural south left destitute because their employers who had invested with the Ceylinco group, Sakvithi and other defaulting financing companies had lost their capital. Many industries had to close down. Sadly, such information was unknown to city folk, the Ven Thero said.
Ven Nakalagamuwa Gnana Wimalaratne Thero, appealed to the President to solve the Ceylinco and other worried depositors’ problems meaningfully.

Plight

The Ven Thero is becoming known as the voice of such poor suffering people; he had walked many miles in the south to meet such people and find temporary relief when possible. Many of such dependent poor had committed suicide, including people from Matara and many other areas, depositors said. Some, made representations, about the plight they face. Others recounted cases where people had lost their senses; some were in mental institutions.
A 58 year-old man said that he had deposited all his EPF and ETF funds amounting to Rs 2 million in the Ceylinco group. He has no means to support his three student children.
Other depositors said that it is only close to the forthcoming presidential elections that the government was even talking about the problem. The government had embarked on a campaign to show the masses that their hands were clean, they alleged.
Many government ministers and other influential people had got back the money they had deposited.
The Golden Key Depositors Association had not broken into two factions. Their treasurer had misappropriated money, and had to leave the association, Emmert said.
The depositors associations had not met the opposition presidential candidate and worked out a plan for them to get their money back. The UPFA government is in power and they want a solution from the government in power. They had not asked their members to vote for a particular presidential candidate; voting is a personal matter. But, if they found an honest presidential candidate they may individually vote for him.
F & G Group Secretary, Neelanie Goonatillake said that the problem in question was dragging on for over a year seemingly without a solution. The CB, Attorney’s General’s department, the judiciary and all other bodies concerned were not cooperative towards solving the problem in a just manner she alleged. There was no proper governance in the CB.
Mumtaz Mohideen, a representative of Ceylinco Profit Sharma said they had voiced their grievances to all authorities concerned, including the CID, but no appropriate action was taken. The deposits counted Rs 800 million, but only Rs400 million of assets were shown. The company had given some politicians loans without “security”. He named a prominent politician from the east who had taken Rs 93 million without collateral. How could politicians bring these companies to book when they have obtained favours from these companies and in turn, have to protect them, he said.