Asiri Surgical Hospital PLC has not maintained even one ward with a minimum of ten beds nor an OPD for poor people for the past 17 years, Colombo Telegraph reveals today.
Asiri Surgical Hospital PLC (formerly known as Asiri Medical Services Ltd), entered into an Agreement with the Board of Investment (BOI) on the 29th of March 2000 to set up and conduct a business for the construction and operation of a Two-Tier Hospital at Kirimandala Mawatha, Colombo 5.
The agreement states “….payment and recovery of income tax shall not apply for a period of ten years in respect of the profits and income of a new enterprise which is engaged in the construction of a hospital on a two-tire basis i.e. one tier dedicated to free health care service for the poor with indoor and outdoor facilities and the other as a fee-based emergency health care service…”
The BOI has allocated 0.942 hectares of land for this project on a 99 year lease, commencing from June 2000.
In an interview with Business Management Digest, business tycoon Ashok Pathirage said: Success doesn’t happen overnight”
Former BOI Chairman Upul Jayasuriya had decided to suspend the tax exemption granted to Asiri Surgical Hospital PLC due to non-fulfilment of terms and conditions of the agreement entered into with the BOI.
As the first step Jayasuriya informed Department of Inland Revenue that the Asiri Surgical Hospital PLC was not entitled for tax exemption. He said that Asiri Surgical Hospital PLC had not maintained at least one ward with a minimum of ten beds nor an OPD for poor people according to the agreement. This was after an investigation carried out by the BOI’s Project Monitoring Unit.
After Jayasuriya and the entire board of the BOI resigned, the owner of Asiri Surgical Hospital PLC, business tycoon Ashok Pathirage, who is also the Chairman and Managing Director of Softlogic Holdings, is trying to renegotiate the deal with the newly appointed board, an informed source within Softlogic told Colombo Telegraph.
malik / July 30, 2017
DEar CT, can you please tell your readers , which privately run hospital on this earth and especially nations such as USA would allow or even let Deny Services To The Poor??? I mean what kind of a business model is that to deny service to the poor. As Asiri is government run and paid by the tax payer why would they do this crime???
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eHPee / July 30, 2017
I think you have missed the plot! The condition to get tax exemption was that a service accessible to the general public should be made available. If that was not possible Asiri should not have signed the BOI agreement. Just get the facts straight before we go on a rant.
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asiri patient / July 30, 2017
The shareholders should be taxed retroactively. Asiri management robbed the tax taxpayer,
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Nic / July 30, 2017
Malik: Please be advised hospitals in the USA cannot refuse emergency medical attention on the basis that a patient has no medical insurance!
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Chan / July 30, 2017
Correct.This hospital was given a tax exemption for 10 years on condition that they will have a ward for the poor at least 10 beds.
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Mudiyanselage / July 30, 2017
Chan,
Health is wealth of a nation – the humbugs go out on tax money for treatment.
Asiri want it all like NHS Trust no tax but liable under FIAct but NGO style No tax and no FIAct.
Their hardware and stock would be biodegradable and outdated whenever asked to leave.
Sheep are at mercy once in the wolf’s jaws.
Going away…no sweets for Spider island.
?Budai : The Laughing Buddha ?
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Champa / July 30, 2017
This is going too far. President should take over Finance-Portfolio forthwith. I have been suggesting this since last year.
Look at your Cabinet, Mr. President.
Your Prime Minister is a rogue.
Your Finance Minister is a rogue.
Your Foreign Minister a rogue.
Your Minister of Ports Development is a rogue.
Your rogue Minister for Ports-Development is all out to sell our ports to foreigners. Seriously, if all our ports are owned-operated by foreign countries fully or partially, why do we need a Minister for Ports?
Shame on you, Mr. President. You are the Head of this Rogue Cabinet. You are protecting all the rogues.
Magampura Port deal is detrimental to our sovereignty, security and economy. Next in line is Eastern-Terminal and Trinco Oil Tanks.
What’s wrong with you, Mr. President, are you going to wait and see like a deaf, dumb and blind until they sell all our precious assets?
In some countries, even antique vehicles are protected as national assets! Here we even sell our most precious strategically located ports to foreigners.
C’mon, Mr. President, you are the Head of State, not Ranil. It is your name which goes down the history as the traitor who sold Magampura port.
Have a backbone, Mr. President and at least save Eastern Terminal and Trinco Oil Tanks. You can still tell Ranil and the gang that you need to peruse Magampura port deal.
Ranil and his gang have no love for the country. Our national assets are not toys for Ranil to play. You, Mr. President, you must protect our key strategic national assets of priceless value and save them for future generation.
Wake up from your slumber, Mr. President. When you have all the power to stop Ranil, you have no right to betray the country like this.
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Warren / July 30, 2017
The vultures that live on the poor and the sick – the MEDICAL MAFIA
A bloody sickening shame and they call themselves great businessmen but doesn’t posses an ounce of humanity
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Shrikharan / July 30, 2017
Warren
” they call themselves great businessmen but doesn’t posses an ounce of humanity”
Businessmen do NOT have humanity and great businessmen NEVER had humanity and that goes against their success. They make a big show of showing concern to poor and they are all a big drama, in a similar way the Asiri Hospital tycoon had made an agreement with Inland revenue but never honoured its pledge only to take the advantage calling them caring for the poor. Successful business people make use of the poor but never give any in return.
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Wimal Karunaratna / July 30, 2017
All these so called business magnets are inhumanly drawing their income from the poor and the poorest.
So money is getting accumulated with few in this country but Government does design a system to get that money back from them to the society by way of taxes / allowing them to spend o. Luxuries etc,. All Governments allign themsrlves with so called all these business Msfias forvetting that voting right is mainly with masses who suffer.
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Jonny / July 30, 2017
But the money for the elections come from the rich so that they can fool the poor!
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Upali Wickramasinghe / August 4, 2017
“All Governments allign themsrlves with so called all these business Msfias forvetting that voting right is mainly with masses who suffer.”
Wimal that was a mouthful
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Sneha / July 30, 2017
Hi Malik,
You are at a tangent. Asiri is not a government hospital. It is a private hospital. What the news item says is that under the agreement they have to give 10 beds free to the poor. This is bacause BOI has given the land free.
This information has been kept away from the public.
Let this be known to the public and let them demand from Asiri for free medical services up to 10 beds at any given time.
If they don’t this avatar of Rajapaksha clan who is laundering Rajapaksha’s ill gotten money be crucified.
Cheers for the Chairman & BOI officials who fought for the rights of the poor.
Is this another reasons why Chairman gave his resignation?
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Jagath Fernando / July 30, 2017
Enforce the BOI agreement.
Well done BOI for not bowing down to pressure.
Let’s see whether the Inland Revenue has the courage to take them on.
Being a listed company they would should have made a disclosure in their annual report. Let’s see the response from SEC and external auditors!!!
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Wesley / July 30, 2017
Yet another reason why Upual and his board must have resigned. These so called business tycoons who definitely made it a “success overnight” through political patronage resulting from their boot licking politicos. They are nothing but ladies of the night and it matters least who they bed with – their choice of bed sheet colors vary with the color of the regime in power!
The president’s cabinet paper on Economic Council should be approved by cabinet forthwith. Ranil wanting time to study the paper is a mere pathetic tactic to delay power eroding from his cronies who patronize the like of these business tycoons including the senile adviser.
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leslie k / July 30, 2017
This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.For more detail see our Comment policy https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comments-policy-2/
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DPJ / July 30, 2017
My experience is that all businessmen, big or small are rouges. Whenever there is opportunity they will rob. If there is no such opportunity they will create one. That’s how they operate. Politicians of all hues are hand in glove with the business world in robbing this country. When Asiri started business in the mid eighties, they had very limited access for credit. I am aware that they went to finance companies paying as much as 24 to 30%. So Softlogic is no exception.
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Peace Lover / July 30, 2017
Like many business tycoons ashok too is a dodgy character when it comes to deals
Softlogic is a place where many women are forced to sleep their way to the top if they want to remain there
Hats off to BOI for dealing firmly and i take my hat off in respect to upul jayasuriya
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Sunil / July 30, 2017
I will give you the history – Central Hospitals was a not for profit making set up by a trust headed by N.M.Udeshi, the Gujarati origin Sri Lankan owner of Siedles (Sony Agent). The trust members included N.G.P. Panditharatna Head of Ford Rhodes and prominent professionals. They suddenly decided to set up a modern hospital Asha Central on the land available as a BOI company getting tax concessions. Later it was sold to Dr Neville Fernando who later sold it to Softlogic Pathirage. I want to know whether BOI is used to get concessions and then get massive capital gains by selling businesses. This is why government doesn’t enough taxes. I would like the general public to investigate the whole scenario and why a charity of Udeshi was sold ? Was it to make quick capital gains ?
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jamjar / July 30, 2017
They and sinhalese too move goal post very frequently, just like the investment bankers. They are operating in the UK and graduating in the US.
Both (K&G) small mercantile states with riches do not believe in innovation the other is your ever loving Kochi both vassals of the left and right wings resp.- mercantile!!
Nice one but Lankans do it too as advised by the prominent professionals who use the system- nothing wrong but the lawmakers have not passed A’levels and give Hoots.
Race & Religion was SWRD class act `A catalyst to the crime from 1956 raddala.-
Win a lawsuit and lose your wealth.
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Priyankara / July 30, 2017
Hi sunil,
There was no Capital gains at the time Central Hospital was sold in this country until the last budget.
You have got your facts wrong.
Check your data before you come on a public domain.
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Jim Softy / July 30, 2017
This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.For more detail see our Comment policy https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comments-policy-2/
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kurakkan? / July 30, 2017
Success doesn’t happen overnight”
But you are a successful pus pan (swindler) and it did not happen overnight.
When Bill broke the ice thanks to Hippia’s it happened overnight- Excel.
But he held on to 640k limit lying all the time `no memory` the dynamic is always available in nano seconds once used – recyclable So fools stacked PC’s with memory (as expensive as gold then) like a can of Sardine. then he became the richest man in the world even Murdoch The Banner could not rival so he slowly broke from 640k and Eureka we have almost limitless terminals to play.
Waterboarding is something The Donald accepts and I am in agreement to do it on
Sociopath Corporate Raiders- Asiri.
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Jagath / July 30, 2017
Any Citizen can forward a RTI aplication to BOI and get the agreement. Please visit to http://www.tri.gov.lk
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Jagath / July 30, 2017
Any Citizen can forward a RTI aplication to BOI and get the agreement. Please visit to http://www.tri.gov.lk for details
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Jagath / July 30, 2017
Any Citizen can forward a RTI aplication to BOI and get the agreement. Please visit to http://www.rti.gov.lk for details
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Pathum / July 31, 2017
What difference does it make even if they treat 10 people free. What is the criteria that they could possibly be implimented to choose this 10. And who will regulate and keep an eye. Not practical at all.
It is just another deal to save their tax money. Useless Fellows
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Andrew / July 31, 2017
Simple solution. If the government is not doing what is necessary, it is our duty. Let’s boycott Asiri Hospitals starting today.
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Lal Anurasiri / August 2, 2017
I just canot understand why they tell those people to have 10 bedded free ward when we have our national hospital in close proximity . Any one interested go to it and get to know about their space requirements . We could have build a whole free hospital there . Asses the amount the people have lost. Tax for years and the land. All these are deals. We should have a truth commission .
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