{"id":70665,"date":"2013-01-22T09:10:47","date_gmt":"2013-01-22T09:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=70665"},"modified":"2013-01-31T17:10:59","modified_gmt":"2013-01-31T17:10:59","slug":"interest-free-loan-scandal-bbcs-41000-annual-salary-employee-was-favored-by-sri-lankan-govt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/interest-free-loan-scandal-bbcs-41000-annual-salary-employee-was-favored-by-sri-lankan-govt\/","title":{"rendered":"Interest Free Loan Scandal: BBC’s \u00a341,000 Annual Salary Employee Was Favored By Sri Lankan Govt"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Colombo Telegraph<\/a><\/span> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

The BBC World Service London employee who applied for the Sri Lankan government\u2019s RS 1.2 million ten year interest free vehicle loan, was favoured by the Government of Sri Lanka the Colombo Telegraph can exclusively reveal today.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Bandara<\/p><\/div>\n

According to published eligibility criteria<\/a><\/span>\u00a0for an interest free loan offered to journalists by the Government of Sri Lanka, applicants have to be in\u00a0possession\u00a0<\/span>of the Accreditation\/Identity card issued by the Department of Government Information. BBC World Service’s producer <\/span>Chandana Keerthi Bandara<\/a><\/span>, however, had no valid Accreditation\/Identity card issued by the Department of Government Information.\u00a0 The only accreditation he possessed was one issued by the Department in 1999 for a short period while he was on a BBC assignment in Sri Lanka (See the copy of his accreditation below).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have no idea how he was granted this loan\u201d said Director General, Government Information department, Dr Ariyaratne Athugala, when asked whether the applicant was favoured above other candidates. He said that the loan disbursement had been handled by the ministry. When pointed out that all BBC letters of recommendations were addressed to him, the Director General said he wasn’t aware of such letters.( See the letter below) He acknowledged, however, that if Bandara had only one old press accreditation, it was wrong decision made by whoever was responsible because criteria had not been fulfilled. Colombo Telegraph made several attempts to contact Secretary, Media Ministry, to no avail.<\/p>\n

Colombo Telegraph investigation team can reveal that the BBC applicant Chandana Bandara only had one Accreditation\/Identity card issued by the Department of Government Information, issued on July 20, 1999. All applicants were asked to produce current accreditation as well as old accreditation prior to interview. Last month when the newly appointed office bearers of the journalists welfare outfit, the Working Journalists Association met the Secretary, Media Ministry, the Vice President of the Association, Kanchan Marasingha complained that more than 30 eligible applicants had not received the loan. Responding to the complaint the Secretary asked them to appeal. The Colombo Telegraph is in a possession of a list of more than 20 rejected applicants which include some with more than 40 years of experience in journalism with valid press accreditation.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Two days ago Colombo Telegraph asked Bandara how he manged to secure a loan having just a single old accreditation document and whether he had indeed been favoured.\u00a0 He has not responded.<\/p>\n

According to the Ministry of Mass Media and Information website<\/a><\/span> the objective of the loan scheme is to recognise the services rendered by media personnel towards national development and to enhance their productivity and quality of service.<\/p>\n

According to the Ministry of Fianance and Planning website<\/a><\/span>, Senior Journalists, Artists and Authors are now able to obtain a maximum amount of Rs. 1,200,000\/- as an interest free loan from the state banks to purchase cars or vans. If the value of the vehicle exceeds the limit of Rs. 1,200,000\/- the balance can be obtained from the relevant state bank under normal interest rates. The Treasury will grant the interest due to the state banks for the interest free loan amount of Rs.1,200,000\/-.<\/p>\n

BBCs Bandara has been receiving around Sri Lankan Rupees 8,528,200 as his annual salary (\u00a341,000\/-)<\/p>\n

Related posts;<\/p>\n

Exclusive: BBC\u2019s Londoner Who Applied GoSL\u2019s Interest Free Loan Receives RS 8.5 Million Annual Salary!<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Expose: BBC Sinhala Head \u2018Knowingly Mislead\u2019 The Public<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

BBC Editor Uses BBC Resources To Cover Up Personal Misconduct<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

No More Dr. Vickramabahu\u2019s Columns<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Left-Right Collusion: Socialist Bahu Called Capitalist Ranil And Urged Not To Expose BBC Misconduct<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

BBC Pussyfooting On \u201cTakes\u201d From SL Govt\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018BBC World Service Journalist\u2019s Interest-Free Loan Application \u2018On The Waiting List\u2019 Says Sri Lankan Government<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Applying And Receiving An Interest-Free Motor Vehicle Loan Will Damage BBC\u2019s Credibility Says The Former Head<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018It Is A Shame And Very Disappointing, BBC Should Investigate Its Journalists\u2019 \u2013 Says Dr Saravanamuttu<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Exclusive: Investigate Your Journalists! \u2013 Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe To BBC\u2019s Lord Chris Patten<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":70670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2187,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-most-popular","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nInterest Free Loan Scandal: BBC's \u00a341,000 Annual Salary Employee Was Favored By Sri Lankan Govt - 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\/interest-free-loan-scandal-bbcs-41000-annual-salary-employee-was-favored-by-sri-lankan-govt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Interest Free Loan Scandal: BBC's \u00a341,000 Annual Salary Employee Was Favored By Sri Lankan Govt - 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