|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Thursday, 12 August 2004 |
 |
|
 |
News | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Samurdhi Funds scam : Great Robbery of the Poorest of the Poor Former Minister A. R. M. Abdul Carder by letter dated 17.11.2003 addressed to then Minister of Samurdhi S. B. Dissanayake had allegedly requested for Rs. 1,000,000 as cost of samba rice he had distributed to 10 Muslim mosques for Ramadan. He has stated that he has provided 690 bags of samba rice at a price of Rs. 1,450 each. The 10 Muslim Mosques that he had claims that he distributed these bags of samba rice are as follows: i) Nawalapitiya Jumma Mosque 150 bags ii) Kurukkuthalai Masjeed Jumma Mosque 40 bags iii) Galhinna Muslim Mosque 150 bags iv) Gelioya Kalugamuwa Jumma Mosque 50 bags v) Gampola Babila Muslim Mosque 60 bags vi) Gampola Illangahawatte Muslim Mosque 60 bags vii) Gampola Town Jumma Mosque 100 bags viii) Nawalapitiya Mapakanda Muslim Mosque 30 bags ix) Gampola Hijragama Muslim Mosque 40 bags x) Nawalapitiya Balantota Jumma Mosque 40 bags Total 690 bags The then Minister of Samurdhi, S. B. Dissanayake had allegedly personally approved this payment, directing Dr. Mrs. Kumari Navaratne to make the payment and this payment had been made from the Samurdhi funds, which were meant for Samurdhi beneficiaries. 5. When investigated, the Chief Lebbeys in charge of the above Muslim Mosques, have totally denied receiving such bags of samba rice, and some of them have even got offended that they had been shown to be begging for rice. This is one instance of misappropriation of Samurdhi funds, which belong to the poorest of the poor of the country. Of the monies allocated from the Consolidated Fund for the Samurdhi beneficiaries Rs. 140 per Samurdhi beneficiary is retained by the Samurdhi Ministry. Of this sum of Rs. 140, Rs. 100 is to promote the habit of savings among the Samurdhi beneficiaries whilst Rs. 30 is to develop a social Security Fund and the balance of Rs. 10 for the conduct of a lottery among the Samurdhi beneficiaries. The Rs. 100 per Samurdhi beneficiary collected had been deposited into the individual Pass Books of the Samurdhi beneficiaries at the Bank of Ceylon and People's Bank earning valuable interest and accumulating savings for them. In the recent years, this practice had been allegedly abandoned and these funds had been retained by the Samurdhi Authority and deposited and invested in various banks. In Pan Asia Bank against the advice of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank the Samurdhi Authority had purchased 14.89% shareholding at a cost of Rs. 119,625,000 buying 8,250,000 shares at a premium of Rs. 2 each when there was no market value for the shares of Pan Asia Bank at a time the bank had incurred loss of Rs. 234,000,000 in the year 2000. Sellers had been 5-Malaysian Companies, Media Heights Sdn, Bhd., Tegas Delima Sdn, Bhd, Perfect Amity Sdn. Bhd., Pangkal Dinamik Sdn, Bhd, and High Tech Securities Services Sdn. Bhd. The Monetary Board of Central Bank had refused to grant approval to register this 14.89% shareholding which was more than the 10% shareholding limit that can be held in a bank permitted under the Banking Act. The Monetary Board on 9.5.2000 had considered the investment of this magnitude in the shares of Pan Asia Bank by the Samurdhi Authority to be inappropriate. In addition the Samurdhi Authority had allegedly deposited a further sum of Rs. 200,000,000 in Pan Asia Bank and had invested a further sum of Rs. 100,000,000 in debentures for Pan Asia Bank as at 31.3.2004. On the share investment there has been no returns for the Samurdhi beneficiaries depriving them of the interest they would have otherwise earned. These are funds that were meant to be given to Samurdhi beneficiaries to be deposited in their personal bank pass books to earn interest and build up savings for them. Worst still is the Rs. 30 component that is kept back allegedly to build up a Social Security Fund to provide for urgent and critical payments to Samurdhi beneficiaries at time of childbirth, marriage, illness and death in their families. According to Statements of Accounts at the Samurdhi Authority Rs. 458,210,574.57 had been the total collection of this Rs. 30 component for the year 2002. However the amounts paid during the year for instances of cbildbirth had been Rs. 7.9 Mn., marriage Rs. 25.1 Mn., illness Rs. 12.5 Mn, and deaths Rs. 75.6 Mn,, making a total of Rs. 121.2 Mn. Therefore the excess in the Social Security Fund in the year 2002 of monies belonging to the poorest of the poor of the country had been Rs. 337.0 Mn. These monies have been utilised to make irregular and fraudulent payments, robbing the poor Samurdhi beneficiaries of their monies kept for desperate personal emergencies and needs. According to Statements of Accounts at the Samurdhi Authority, Rs. 458,258,570.91 had been the total collection of this Rs. 30 component for the next year 2003. However, the amounts paid during the year for instances of childbirth had been Rs. 14.5 Mn. marriage Rs. 27.2 Mn., illness Rs. 13.9 Mn. and deaths Rs. 83.3 Mn. making a total of Rs. 138.9 Mn. Therefore the excess in the Social Security Fund in 2003 of monies belonging to the poorest of the poor of the country had been Rs. 319.2 Mn. These monies have been utilised to make irregular and fraudulent payments robbing the poor Samurdhi beneficiaries of their monies kept for desperate personal emergencies and needs. Even the Rs. 10 collected for the lottery conducted among the Samurdhi beneficiaries has not been distributed fully as prize monies, but some part thereof had been used for other purposes. The above monies not paid to Samurdhi beneficiaries for the years 2002 and 2003 amount to a staggering Rs. 656.2 Mn. These are monies provided by the State to be paid to the poorest of the poor in our country and have been used for irregular and fraudulent payment by Samurdhi Authority under then Minister of Samurdhi. This poor people's monies had been misappropriate and used for political and other personal purposes. The Rs. 1,000,000 payment to former Minister Abdul Carder is allegedly only one such payment - a mere drop in the ocean. This is how over Rs. 600,000,000 of monies meant to be paid to Samurdhi beneficiaries as Social Securities Payments for critical urgent personal needs, had been misappropriated and siphoned off and used for other purposes in just 2 years. All such payments should be disclosed to the public and to the Samurdhi beneficiaries to whom such monies had been provided by the State and which monies of the State had been misappropriated. Law must be enforced. According to published figures of the Samurdhi Authority for the month of January 2004, the Rs. 30 Social Welfare Fund money retained has been computed to be Rs. 55,492,500. That is for a year this will amount to Rs. 656,910,000. Against such computation the monies accounted as collected by the Samurdhi Authority for the years 2002 had been Rs. 458,210,574.57 Mn. and for the year 2003 Rs. 458,258,570.91. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
