LIFE ABROAD – Part 27:
LOST OPPORTUNITIES
The colossal amount of foreign exchange drain on steep accommodation
bills for Sri Lankan diplomatic and 'home based' staff sent abroad from
the Foreign Ministry had been the subject of discussion for a long time
in London. The decision to purchase buildings for government use, as far
back as in 1998, was considered as a far-sighted cost effective policy
to save the much need foreign exchange for the country.
The late Lakshman Kadirgamar as the Foreign Minister suggested that a
treasury allocation of Rs.100 million to the Foreign Ministry be
utilised in the purchase of properties abroad to accommodate Foreign
Office staff rather than returning the money back to the treasury as
'unused' purchases of new property in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Pretoria
and Beijing; further attempts to buy more in Mumbai and Berlin indicated
that the new concept was gaining ground fast.
The concept of having Sri Lanka’s own living quarters for diplomats
surfaced with the experiment in New Delhi. Subsequent to the Indian
experience various projects had been formulated but finally many such
studies were confined only to a lip service to a greater extent.
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Lakshman
Kadirgamar |
Taking London as a typical example one could focus on the extensive
research done during 1970s and 1980s to achieve this goal in having Sri
Lanka's own accommodation for foreign ministry staff that were sent to
the UK. Unfortunately due to various administrative and political ping
pong dominating the issue, the idea was put back on the shelf except the
purchase of an Official Residence for the Sri Lankan High Commissioner
in the UK at The Avenue, St. John's Wood in NW London, with a fair
amount of garden space and an additional three bedroom bungalow (used
formerly as house keeper's quarters).
This was considered as a blessing in disguise as the house keeper’s
bungalow was refurbished later and used as diplomatic quarters thus
saving a considerable amount of foreign exchange drain to UK landlords.
During the late President R Premadasa's rule the unused basement area
at the High Commission building, which was gathering dust for decades,
was converted into several flats by a special squad of builders and
workers flown from Sri Lanka to London. Although it managed to cut down
the rent bill drastically Sri Lankan newspapers highlighted at the time
about the London accommodation problem that prevailed quoting a figure
of £12,000 (British Pounds) on a monthly basis on house rents alone.
Renting of accommodation in London had always been a nightmare.
During this phase the house market in London went through a depression
which gave the opportunity for the wise and intelligent to make hay
while the sun shone! This would have been an ideal opportunity to put
the late Foreign Minister Kadirgamar’s idea into action!
Naivety
The government owning property for diplomatic staff abroad had its
other advantages. London was one of the very first destinations to have
Sri Lankan offices abroad since her independence in 1948. After decades
what Sri Lanka had in terms of an investment in foreign exchange
overseas was minimal.
The High Commission operated its bank account with Natwest, (National
Westminster Bank) at Praed Street, London W2 while the Bank of Ceylon’s
London branch was in the hub of UK’s banking arena for decades. In such
a favourable situation the inability to arrange mortgages to buy a few
properties in London became inconceivable with the backing of the
Central Bank in Colombo!
Bank of Ceylon's London branch was one of the oldest banking
institutions in the city of London nestled among reputed international
banks. Thanks to short-sighted policies and ineffective management for
decades and unwise decisions made by managers what Sri Lanka has lost in
terms of 'property deals' in changing buildings for this institution and
acquiring white elephants not only affected the Bank of Ceylon balance
sheet but its name was dragged into various scandalous enquires which
once ended up in Colombo where a foreigner who was employed by the bank
paying an astronomical amount as his salary took to his heels halfway
during the enquiry and left the country.
Safety factors
The Ceylon Tea Centre building at Piccadilly Circus was another asset
Sri Lanka lost. 'Ceylon Tea' being a worldwide brand name and having our
own tea centre in the capital of London (where it was believed that if
one were to sell tea at Piccadilly Circus out of a hand cart (Ath
Karaththaya) one could have made millions) had to be closed down finally
after handing over the lease of the entire building metaphorically
speaking ‘on a plate' to an Insurance Company thanks to the
mismanagement of its affairs by those who were responsible at the time.
'The Ceylon Students Centre' at Sussex Gardens, as mentioned in a
previous column, went into oblivion due to again various administrative
hullabaloo and inefficiencies of the Management (both in London and Sri
Lanka).
The selection of a suitable building in Holland Park in West London
to shift the High Commission Office from 13 Hyde Park Gardens with a
view to bringing all other Sri Lankan Institutions under one roof during
Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s regime suffered yet another egoistical
diplomatic battle due to personal differences of opinion between the
then High Commissioner, the late Tilak Gooneratne and his Deputy, the
late Guy Amirthanayagam, both of whom were equally close to Mrs.
Bandaranaike.
It is natural that any building or house needs redecorating and/or
attending to routine repairs annually over a period of time according to
a lease or rent agreement or a mortgage. For this purpose in England
there are special building and household insurance schemes where every
house ‘owner’ is advised to become protected. It becomes mandatory
especially for those who seek bank loans or mortgages from banks or
building societies.
These policies are structured mainly to take the financial strain out
of the ‘owner/occupier’ in case of any kind of major repairs ranging
from plumbing, electrical, boiler, heating, water pipe bursts and even
to completely rebuild a new house in case of total destruction by fire
or floods. The insurance premiums vary according to the size and the
value of the property and these policies are planned out so that every
house owner can afford to pay such premiums, thus saving them from any
unforeseen financial disasters.
Worst Tittle-Tattle
In London news travels faster even than emails at times among the
expatriate community. One of the ‘hot’ scandals that dominated once
surrounded the High Commissioner’s residence at St. Johns Wood being
abandoned by a new High Commissioner upon assuming duties in London on
the premise it was ‘uninhabitable’ due to immense repairs to be done,
followed by her decision to rent a private apartment at a cost of £8,000
Sterling Pounds a month, leaving two ‘service’ employees only as
security at the official residence.
This, naturally was exposed in a national newspaper headlines on a
Friday (September 28) revealing further that the original rent which was
£ 3,000 had been increased to £ 5,000 and later escalated up to £ 8,000
over a period of time! The amount of money the Sri Lanka High Commission
spent on rent alone at the time was exposed as £35,000 Sterling Pounds a
month to accommodate 25 or more staff attached to the mission!
In such circumstances it was natural for any observer to criticise
such an unnecessary wastage of Sri Lankan taxpayers' money on rented
premises in England with a view to ensuring that the same fate that
befell on the Students Centre and Tea Centre did not come to pass again!
The buzzing that took place among the Sri Lankan community in London
became infectious on a 'hidden agenda' to dispose of this property
through a private property developer by convincing and persuading
Colombo authorities with the help of a Chartered Surveyor's reports etc.
Finally, the whole scheme backfired from the moment the news reached
President Mahinda Rajapaksa who immediately took a stern action and put
a stop to such a misdemeanour. No property owner has to lose an arm and
leg or pay through the nose to get any house repairs done in the UK if
one has a 'Building Insurance' which can be arranged with a single
telephone call! In this particular incidence it was not clear whether
there was already an insurance policy covering the High Commissioner's
building and/or contents in a pigeon hole unknown to officials or simply
due to the naivety of the London staff at the time in such matters! The
same could have applied to the Students Centre as well!
Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to
climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid -
Albert Einstein
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