SLIC judgement will save billions for Lanka - Activist

HIRAN H. SENEWIRATNE

The Supreme Court’s decision to annul the privatization deal of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) will save a colossal sum of public money, public interest activist Nihal Sri Amarasekera said.

“This historic landmark case would deter politicians, public officers when dealing with public properties. The SLIC deal was a transaction between private parties than a privatization exercise of the entity, Amarasekera told at a media conference commenting on the SLIC ‘s Supreme Court decision.

The Supreme Court ruled that the sale of 90 percent of the shares of the state-owned SLIC by Milford Holdings (Pvt) Ltd and Greenfield Pacific EM Holdings Ltd in which businessman Harry Jayawardena had a big stake was null and void and ordered the Treasury Secretary to take over the ownership and management of the former state-owned entity.

Amarasekera said the SLIC deal shocked the conscience of the Court regrading the selling of public property which then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge did not approve from the every beginning.

He said SLIC was a profit earning Government institution which was sold under controversial circumstances,” the Court held in its judgment and detailed that the Steering Committee appointed in 2002 by Milinda Moragoda to oversee the SLIC sale had been done without Cabinet approval.

A Steering Committee had appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Indonesia to act as financial advisors to the Government in collaboration with PwC Sri Lanka, without Cabinet approval and for a lucrative contract, he said.

The Public Enterprise Reform Commission (PERC) was empowered by an exclusive Act of Parliament to look into Government entities for privatization but did not take any notice and go ahead with their work without even Cabinet approval, Amarasekera said. Valuation of the SLIC was done without a proper criteria and valued at less than the actual value which is a gross valuation, he said.

Advisor to the President Vasudeva Nanayakkara said it is high time to protect public properties for the future generation, which has been siphoned by politicians, public servants and businessmen.

He said it is a myth that the Government cannot run business entities and cited Singapore and Thailand where national airlines are run by those respective Governments and are making profits.