{"id":140082,"date":"2015-02-26T12:39:26","date_gmt":"2015-02-26T07:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=140082"},"modified":"2015-03-07T01:39:26","modified_gmt":"2015-03-06T20:09:26","slug":"sri-lankan-airlines-weliamunas-investigation-hits-turbulence-airlines-it-dept-suspected-of-foul-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sri-lankan-airlines-weliamunas-investigation-hits-turbulence-airlines-it-dept-suspected-of-foul-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lankan Airlines: Weliamuna\u2019s Investigation Hits \u2018Turbulence\u2019- Airline’s IT Dept Suspected Of Foul Play"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Aviation Minister\u2019s ordered probe into the airline appears to have hit turbulence as the \u201cUrgent Notice\u201d requested to be sent to all staff by the airline almost a week ago seeking credible information from staff is yet to be received by employees of the airline.<\/p>\n

\"JC<\/a>

JC Weliamuna<\/p><\/div>\n

Disrupting this probe on all possible counts was expected from the onset as many employees were waiting to spill beans.<\/p>\n

Employees of the airline passing on credible information to support this investigation were anticipated by airline’s Senior Management Team especially the current CEO Kapila Chandrasena<\/span><\/a> the political appointee of the former regime who mysteriously still remains in control.<\/p>\n

Many of the airline\u2019s employees have now raised concerns in disgust as to why only some have received the \u2018Urgent Notice\u2019 and not all and have now started pointing fingers at their very own Information Technology (I.T) Department for not dispatching this all important email.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis appears to be another tactical move by our CEO Kapila Chandrasena as he will attempt to hinder the ordered probe and attempt to disrupt any flow of information from his staff which would expose him and his former Senior Management Team. Some of the former Senior Management Team members incidentally are still in employment with the airline and still attempt to wield their powers quite blatantly.<\/p>\n

“Those in charge of the I.T Department should be held accountable if proved that they have willfully sabotaged this ordered governmental probe on the airline\u201d complained a very senior employee of the airline.<\/p>\n

Other staff members of the airline feel that due to the severity of the probe the existing CEO of the airline Kapila Chandrasena, should step aside until the Aviation Minister\u2019s ordered probe is complete.<\/p>\n

The former Chairman and brother in law of the former President Nishantha Wickremasinghe<\/span><\/a> the so called former \u2018Ace of Spades\u2019 of the national carrier has already departed and now only the \u2018king of Spades\u2019 and number two in the airline CEO Chandrasena still remains.<\/p>\n

There is no doubt the new Chairman of the national carrier Ajit Dias will end up becoming the \u2018joker\u2019 of the deck of cards if he does not fully support the Aviation Ministry during this probe.<\/p>\n

It is now approximately one week since the email to all staff was ordered to be dispatched and many as of today are still to receive it.<\/p>\n

Transporting of the famous Lamborghini cars for the former first Sons of the country, to Gotabaya Rajapaksa\u2019s VVIP travel of his puppy dog from Zurich to Colombo, to the former Chairman and Brother In Law Nishantha Wickremasinghe\u2019s blatant and costly love affair with his Flight Stewardess paramour and his diversion of a commercial flight to Singapore for personal gain are all been investigated besides many other reasons as to why the airline had to undergo a serious operational loss of approximately Rs 120 Billion.<\/p>\n

The aviation sector in Sri Lanka got a rude awakening early last week when probably for the first time in the country\u2019s history a full probe into the \u2018Abuse of Power\u2019 by its Board of Directors and Senior Management, \u201cLeasing and Purchasing of Aircraft\u201d, \u201cMajor Contracts\u201d and all \u201cExternal Interference\u201d of Sri Lankan Airlines was ordered by Arjuna Ranatunga the Ports, Shipping and Aviation Minister earlier in the week.<\/p>\n

The task of probing this national carrier has been entrusted to Lawyer J.C. Weliamuna and his team.<\/p>\n

In has been reported that the response in the first week of the current probe has been promising with many employees beating a path to Mr.Weliamuna\u2019s door and fearlessly coming forward to provide critical information.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this is the golden opportunity that the Aviation Minister Arjuna Rantunga has been waiting for to prove that he can clean up this right royal mess that this once trend setting and award winning airline has found itself at present.<\/p>\n

Minister Ranatunga won the country great accolades by leading his national team of cricketers to win the world cup in 1996. Now nineteen years later he finds himself leading his aviation team to a different playground, a playing field with much bigger boundaries and in a world where the aviation sector presents a completely different set of challenges.<\/p>\n

The entire nation and the aviation world for that matter watches in hope as \u2018Captain Cool\u2019 attempts to trap those perpetrators \u2018Leg Before Wicket\u2019 (LBW) or bowl the them \u2018through the gate\u2019. He no doubt will begin this innings from scratch and make every endeavor to nudge the airline to prosperity with his trade mark flicks all around the park.<\/p>\n

But the all-important question that lies on the lips of the each and every tax payer in this county is this.<\/p>\n

Will this probe help clean up this mess and move the airline towards greater success or will this probe require the intervention of third umpire?<\/p>\n

The \u2018Urgent Notice\u2019 sent out to all employees of Sri Lankan Airlines is as follows:<\/p>\n

URGENT NOTICE
\nTO: ALL MEMBERS OF THE STAFF OF SRI LANKAN AIRLINES
\nBOARD OF INQUIRY TO INVESTIGATE INTO MATTERS RELATING TO SRI LANKAN AIRLINES<\/p>\n

Hon. Minister of Airport and Aviation has appointed a Board of Inquiry to inquire into certain critical aspects relating to Sri Lankan Airlines, and in particular, irregularities and abuse of power by the Management of Sri Lankan Airlines, prior to the appointment of the new Board of Directors in February 2015.<\/p>\n

If any member of the Staff is aware of any instances of abuse of power and\/or irregularities committed during the abovementioned period, such information is of vital importance in achieving the objectives of the Board of Inquiry. Therefore, all members of the Staff are requested to submit such vital information directly to the Board of Inquiry. Any person interfering with the transmission of such information through intimidation of whatever nature shall be severely dealt with.<\/p>\n

Please note that, the identity of the members of the Staff who assist the Board of Inquiry will be kept strictly confidential. No staff member will be subjected to any form of victimization by disclosing such information to the Board of Inquiry
\nAll information may be provided by email, by post or in person:<\/p>\n

Address:
\nBoard of Inquiry,
\nc\/o Chairman
\nNo. 147\/5, Dutugamunu Street,
\nKohuwela.
\nEmail: srilankan.investigation@gmail.com
\nPhone: Mobile 0710211212 or Ext 1212<\/p>\n

Any staff member who wishes to meet the Board of Inquiry may seek a personal appointment by phone or by a request made to the above email address.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 CT filed\u00a0By Marlon Dale Ferreira<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":122159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,6969,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-popular-stories","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nSri Lankan Airlines: Weliamuna\u2019s Investigation Hits \u2018Turbulence\u2019- Airline's IT Dept Suspected Of Foul Play - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sri-lankan-airlines-weliamunas-investigation-hits-turbulence-airlines-it-dept-suspected-of-foul-play\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sri Lankan Airlines: Weliamuna\u2019s Investigation Hits \u2018Turbulence\u2019- Airline's IT Dept Suspected Of Foul Play - 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