The UNP today filed a police complaint against Australian casino king James Packer who arrived in Sri Lanka today.
UNP MP Harsha De Silva together with colleagues Ruwan Wijewardane and Ajith Perera filed the complaint at police headquarters in Colombo alleging that Packer was in Sri Lanka to promote a casino project in the country when casinos were illegal.
“He is said to be plotting with some local businessmen to establish a large scale casino in Colombo,” de Silva told reporters in Colombo after he made the complaint.
The UNP MP said that they told the police that they appreciated that the law was implemented with regard to a small time casino at Town Hall recently. “But the law must apply with the same force on the big time casinos operating in Colombo as well,” De Silva explained.
Packer is in Colombo to address the Commonwealth Business Forum and to hold discussions with the Government and other stakeholders to get his joint venture project to build a mega resort with gaming facilities on the Beira Lake. Packer’s Crown Sri Lanka project has been granted unprecedented tax breaks by the Rajapaksa Government.
Ben Hurling / November 12, 2013
James Woodpecker & the Banana Trunk!
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Dodo / November 12, 2013
Well shouldn’t these UNP jokers be filing a criminal complaint against the Minister of Soc-called Economic Development and the Rajapassa brothers who have repeatedly violated the law and stolen private and state lands – rather than Packer?!
The UNP Ranil faction clearly is collaborating with the Rajapassa regime.. while pretending to be in the OPPOSITION!
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Ben Hurling / November 12, 2013
King’s Ministry of Opposition Affairs run by RW faction cannot come down too harsh on Rajapassa brothers.
It can backfire all over their own faces. They will end up without the Ministry. Not to mention the perks and privileges that come with it.
They have chosen a far softer target. Casino king “James Woodpecker” from Sydney.
Cheers!
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JULAMPITIYE AMARAYA / November 12, 2013
If casinos starts, it will give us more headaches and people cannot live because of those Politico-criminals may loot and run like mad Dogs.
these are the figures given by S T today for the crimes committed /done by former and now serving Defence personnel’s
There were Homicides Total 1, 773 out of which done by the
Army 70
Navy 6
Air Force4
Police 26
Robberies total 15,599
Army 273
Navy 37
Air Force 21
Police 59
Rape total 4329
Army 218
Navy 20
Air Force 12
Police 18
Murders
Army – 3.9%
Navy – 0.3%
Air Force 0.2%
Police 1.5%
Robberies
Army 1.76%
Navy 0.24%
Air Force 0.13%
Police 0.4% Police
Rape
Army 5.0%
Navy 0.5%
Air Force 0.3%
Police 0.4%
For a 13 month period starting 01 June 2012 and ending 30th June 2013.
Homicide total 599
Army 24 (either deserters or serving)
Navy +2
Air Force 2
Police 7
Home guards 3
Rape 2259
Army 78 +25
Air Force 2
Navy 11
Police 3
Home guards 4
Robbery 5650
Army 52 +43
Navy 20
Air Force 13
Police 26
Home guards 7
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JULAMPITIYE AMARAYA / November 12, 2013
Ben;
THAT Bankrupt casino king James Parker also willing to take loans from States Banks .
Take my words.
You will see,
That OZ will show Jarapassa and Hothambaya, his middle Finger and Vanish from Sri lanka with a very big loot.
they are the descendants of Colonial Thieves.
Are we Going to trust them??????????.
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Dr. B.I. Passe / November 12, 2013
Harsha de Silva and his colleagues in the disintegrating UNP have got their act in the wrong order. Police cannot take action on events that are suspected to take place in the future. Besides, the Packer family
are big investors – welcome in many countries. It is not their fault they were approached by a regime of known crooks ready to sell the resources and the family silver of their country to get a few million bucks. That is nothing new. It has been happening for 7 years now.
Besides, it was Premadasa’s UNP that encouraged Singapore gangsters to run Casinos here – while it was the SLFP in 1956 that took action against horse-raising and all forms of gambling. The raw truth is both the SLFP and UNP are in a do-or-die bid to destroy the country, while the politicians of the day help to fill their pockets. Thanks to the Rajapakses Sri Lanka is fast becoming like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
Very soon there will be food shortages and famine. Signs of it are already manifesting. There are severe signs of diseases related to malnutrition in children for sometime now.
Dr. B.I. Passe
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Dinuk / November 12, 2013
Koheda yanne? malle pol!
Instead of filing irrelevant court cases against an Aussi businessman, the UNP should have organized a massive PROTEST against the Rajapassa regime at this time – to tell the world the truth about its CORRUPT military dictatorship in Lanka! But rather Ranil Wickramasinghe the shameless and dishonest joker is not even going to boycott Rajapassa’s British Colonialism celebration, but attending its inauguration!
My god! what a bunch of utter LOSERS and jokers is so-called opposition UNP party is! Ranil is a pathetic CREEP!
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anton / November 12, 2013
Dinuk
Well said. Packer has got one hell of a deal here, and he will fight tooth and nail to protect his investment. His target is not the two bob Sri Lankan punter, but the high rollers fron India and the region.
He has struck gold in the heart of Colombo., No taxes and all the foreign cash in the world that he can send out of the country . Benefit to Sri Lanka , croupiers,waiters and waitresses and all the low end jobs.Plus of course, revenue for the hookers and their pimps.
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Sumith / November 12, 2013
This is how opposition parties looks like in dictatorship countries.
Saddam, Gadaffi, Mugabe etc.. ruled forever and opposition will be disintegrated by the dictator. failure breed more failures.
If you want have a strong opposition support people like Dr Harsha.
Don’t go to polls and vote for MR then look at the results and blame UNP as everybody else do.
and be reminded people are sick and tired listening examples from 80’s 60’s and 40’s to justify the current corruption.
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The Penetrator / November 12, 2013
Harsha you are a very very good man, leave your shitty party who has no backbone to support you.. I witnessed with my own eyes some of your speeches, why are those cock suckers behind you fidgeting and pretending they have something better to do. I notice that when anyone speaks the truth, people sitting behind these great fellows quietly disappear.. I just wonder what they are scared of or if they think what ever these gentlemen say is not worth their time.. I noticed this with you and Ranjans speeches, why are these people so scared of pretending to care about your guys speeches? Is it that bad in Sri Lankan now?
Harsha I think you are surrounded by cockroaches from the government and in your own “party”, but hopefully your light will shine through. They say when darkness in a room a single light can light up the whole room, but if one single light is in a room a thousand darkness’s can not stop that one illumination.
Please why don’t you go independent or join SFs party?? It just seems like what the people say is correct and that the UNP is just a camouflage of the regime.
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demon silva / November 12, 2013
What type of visa has packer? will that be investigated or is it above the immigration officials?
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crazyoldmansl / November 12, 2013
Harsha does not like casinos but he likes a Tamil free island like all of us I guess.
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Don Quixote / November 12, 2013
Packer has just been granted the right to open another huge Casino in Sydney. This is what he wanted and the whole plan was to indicate to the Australian Government that he would move money and jobs offshore if he didn’t get this permission.
Now he will drop the Colombo project like a “hot potato”.
Looks like the UNP has another award for useless and unnecessary protest about issues that have no real impact.
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kris / November 12, 2013
Bunch of looser fighting for nothing
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K.A Sumanasekera / November 12, 2013
How can these Cosmoplitan Intelligentsia have a dimwit like Harsha as their Shadow Treasurer?
Isn’t this stupid stunt a disgrace for a party which is run by the British and America Embassies and has the Capitalist Cameron as the patron saint.who incidentally is in Town to knife Rajapaksa and inject some Viagra in to Ranil and and his new Supreme Council to take over our inhabitants.
Even Cameron will start wondering whether these donkeys can hold a candle to the current regime when he sees the development across the land on his way for the audience with our Vellala CM in the North.
Some one here said Harsha should leave the UNP.
The ordinary punters would say it is about time the so called Cosmopolitan Intelligentsia left the UNP and perhaps join the TNA.
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Lapatiya / November 12, 2013
This Harsha De Silva and others are Jealous with our Saddarmadveepa Chakrawarthi’s Giant Development Plans.
Actually UNP is afraid that they will loose their Voter base further with this new Deshapremi Casino project as lot of our beautiful young Girls will get job opportunities in Casino centers and earn Handsome package including white skin babies without Fathers.
If this Casino is not suitable for our Country will the Gaanu 5 Nanasara Bebadu Balu Sena, Rawana Balukaya, Singhala Rawata, Wimals, Jaathi Hithaishee peramuna, Nalins Jaathi Maamaka Balukaya and other so many Deshapremis keep quite?
Uduwe Dammaloka has already given his consent for Casino in Sri Lanka as it was there even in Lord Buddha’s time.
SB has already said he has also played Casino and it is good and going to introduce Casino as higher education Subject in the Universities.
Even our Pathola Champika is not against Casino and says all the foreigners should start to Play Casino after observing 5 sill as this is pure Sinhala Buddhist Country.
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Karigalan / November 12, 2013
Our boys just survived from Kay parker now James parker god bless SL
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Safa / November 12, 2013
Small time illegal casino at Town Hall run by a highly connected businessman with the patronage of VVIP’s? 23 police officers transfered immediately on orders from the top? Packer has powerful backers and customers.
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The Penetrator / November 13, 2013
Don’t worry boys, no Casino will ever exist in Sri Lanka, birds of the same feather flock together. This is just another scam worked on by criminals that you can not even begin to fathom..
Here’s a report from the government owned TV station in Aus for your reading.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-10-12/packer-down-2b-in-vegas-gamble/1099966
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Lanka Liar / November 13, 2013
Every Sin is committed in this Sin Hal la land in grand scale. So what is wrong in having a grand casino. Gambling is a Sin isn’t it. Along with the casino there will be many playgrounds for you know who. Is it the master plan of VP to destroy Sri Lanka this way.
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madawa / November 13, 2013
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Dr Romesh Senewiratne-Alagaratnam / November 13, 2013
James Packer and the Packer Family are completely corrupt. His father, Kerry Packer, owned the network TV station Channel 9 which rigged gambling shows on TV centred on sports, especially cricket and horse-racing. They used carefully calculated strategies was to addict people, especially the poor and uneducated, to gambling. This has resulted in thousands of suicides in Australia in addition to enormous amounts of depression and misery. It has also driven countless people to early deaths through alcohol and stress (which causes heart attacks, diabetes, hypertension and many other health problems).
In addition, the Packer gambling empire rigs horse-racing as well as the casino tables. but the biggest gambling problem in Australia is the “poker machines” or “pokies”, which were banned for many years in Queensland, but is now a massive problem here, as it is in the southern states. The idea is to collect all the coins of the poor, especially the elderly. They get cheap alcohol and are hypnotized by computer screens with flashing lights to put coin after coin into the machine. Before they know it all their money is gone – so they beg or steal for more – always dreaming that they’ll “hit the jackpot”. The coins are then examined carefully for their numismatic value, resulting in multi-million-dollar profits for the gambling empires.
Also, both the Packer and Murdoch media support Anglo-Australian and Anglo-American militarism. As such,they supported the war in Sri Lanka from its beginnings, as well as the Anglo-Americo-Australian attacks on Timor, Solomon Islands, Bouganville, New Guinea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam…the list goes on . Kerry Packer should have been arrested for his crimes long ago; but he is now dead. His son, James, is just as bad as his father. He should be held accountable in the International Courts for his crimes and those of the companies he heads.
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Douglas / November 14, 2013
Of all the people, I never expected Dr. Harsha de Silva to do a thing like this. Does this complaint shows us another case of a “Bankrupt Politician” who is trying all manner of tactics to “hoodwink” the general public?
Dr. Harsha: Please do what is legally correct and refrain from tarnishing your image. Till this time I thought, UNP had at least one responsible member who can give us an analytical approach to the economic problems. Now that is also gone to the wilderness.
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