‘New Board for SriLankan soon’

The resignation letters of the Board of Directors of SriLankan Airlines (UL) have been accepted and a new Board would be appointed shortly, said of Public Enterprises Development Kabir Hashim.

Addressing a press briefing convened at the UNP Headquarters he said the government has no intention of selling off Sri Lankan but added that they would welcome a Public Private Partnership (PPP).

He said during the President’s visit to Qatar, he met the Emir of Qatar who had shown keen interest in Sri Lankan Airlines and had subsequently sent a high level minister to hold discussions with the Sri Lankan authorities in this regard.

“The discussions were very successful and we are currently awaiting a response from them. We don’t mind which international airline but we will negotiate with them and get the best deal for SriLankan. Some people are alleging that we are trying to close up SriLankan Airlines. But, I as the minister can assure that we have no intention of selling it off. But we need a good international partner to work with us. They will do the management but Sri Lanka will still hold shares in it.”

In response to a question posed by a journalist on the Weliamuna report on Sri Lankan Airlines, the minister said he had made a request to include the recommendations of the Weliamuna report into the findings of the new committee report. “What we want is transparency. The Weliamuna report had a lot of very constructive points which I requested to be included as well.”

The minister said that within a few days a new Board would be appointed but declined to name the proposed named.

Meanwhile issuing a Communiqué SriLankan Airlines states that contrary to popular belief, the Board of Directors of SriLankan Airlines have taken all action possible to address the internal and disciplinary issues highlighted in the J C Weliamuna Report.

In September 2017, a comprehensive docket containing the Company’s responses in connection with the Weliamuna Report were submitted to the Chairman of the COPE Sunil Handunnetti, M.P. Most recently, a further update in January 2018 was submitted to Minister Kabir Hashim, Minister of Public Enterprise Development.

The release also states that in July 2016, Minister Hashim requested that a forensic audit on the financial transaction and affairs referred to in the Weliamuna Report be conducted by forensic accounting services but owing to the high cost involved, the decision was abandoned by the Minister.