SLCSMI President helps company recover debt
Sri Lanka Chamber of Small and Medium Industries (SLCSMI) President
Aloy Jayawardene's mediation enabled Alucop Cables PLC to recover a
major debt in Australia.
Alucop Cables PLC made a shipment of cables to an Australian Company
in Victoria, Melbourne, after their visit to Australia with the Trade
Mission organized by the Sri Lanka Chamber of Small and Medium
Industries in mid 2008.
SLCSMI President, Aloy Jayawardene with Sri Lanka Consul
General in Sydney, P.D. Fernando,
during his visit. |
The first shipment was honoured and the second shipment which was
sent on DP terms on the request of the buyer was held up for payment.
Constant reminders by e-mail and international calls to the buyer
fell on deaf ears.
Alucop Cables PLC added interest for each year and the total
outstanding reflected ASD 20,000.
The local company holding membership in most of the large Chambers
made representations to these Chambers, The Australian High Commission
and even to The Australia - New Zealand Business Council. The outcome
for all these appeals ended in no results.
SLCSMI President Aloy Jayawardene had travelled to Australia in late
December 2010 and visited five states in Australia, meeting Chambers and
promoting bi-lateral trade.
Alucop Cables holds membership with the Sri Lanka Chamber of Small
and Medium Industries. Their Managing Director Shamendra Panditha made a
special appeal to Jayawardene, as he was visiting the State of Victoria
to visit the defaulting company and find out the reasons for not
honouring the outstanding amount. Documents of the defaulted shipment
were given to Jayawardene.
One of the five States Jayawardene was visiting was Victoria
Melbourne. Jayawardene had a meeting in Melbourne with Bandu Dissanayake,
Consul for Sri Lanka in Victoria and Dilkie Perera, President Australia
Lanka Business Council in Melbourne.
Having explained to them the non honouring of shipment of cables from
Sri Lanka, both personalities had telephoned the defaulting company, but
both failed to make contact with the chief of the company.
Jayawardene then met P.D. Fernando, Consul General in New South Wales
- Sydney. At the meeting Fernando, was told of the Alucop Cables matter.
He promptly contacted the company in Victoria, Melbourne and was able
to talk to the secretary of the company.
The reply Fernando had was that the interest Alucop Cables had added
to their final bill was the reason for the delay in the final payment.
Jayawardene who was with Fernando at his office telephoned Panditha
who was then in Sweden, and requested that an invoice be forwarded to
Fernando removing the interest amount. Panditha arranged a revised bill
for ASD 14,500.
After much pressure from P.D. Fernando Sri Lanka's Consul General in
Sydney the Melbourne Company finally paid Alucop Cables(now Sierra
Cables P.L.C.), the amount outstanding in mid January 2012, almost one
year since this matter was initiated by Fernando. |