By Marlon Dale Ferreira –

Startling evidence has now emerged that the newly appointed Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka P.A. Jayakantha was in fact an Air Force Officer attached to the Volunteer Force in the past whose services were terminated with the reasons highlighted as ‘Withdrawal of Commission’.

P.A. Jayakantha

This in fact was also documented in a Government Gazette issued by the then President of Sri Lanka Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on the 31st of January 1997. Reports indicate that P.A. Jayakantha had then joined SriLankan Airlines but had once again left under controversial circumstances when he had allegedly shared inappropriate and unsuitable material on his company provided computer.

However what is further questionable is as to how an officer who was once cashiered from the Air Force was permitted to join another government establishment such as the CAASL.

A very senior official in the aviation industry who opted to remain anonymous when speaking to Colombo Telegraph said “I am seriously concerned about two things. Firstly was P.A. Jayakantha truthful in stating that his services were terminated by the Air Force in his application process when joining the Security Division of CAASL and also more importantly did the CAASL authorities complete a comprehensive background check prior to offering him employment?”

It could be confirmed that even his appointment to the Security Division at the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka was officially questioned in the past.

However in that instance a letter addressed to the then Secretary of the CAASL and copied to the Defense Secretary and Director Establishment, was simply swept under the carpet.

Subsequently, with the passing of time and with further allegations made regarding the political clout that P.A. Jayakantha musters, even this position that he has been appointed to DG CAASL comes as no surprise, especially in a country that speaks volumes of the great system change that the current ruling regime promises to bring.