Instead of trying to find fault with President Maithripala Sirisena for having gazetted the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation under the Defence Ministry, it is important to take note of the incidents which compelled the President to take this decision within a few hours, said the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation Inoka Sathyanganie Keerthinanda.
Addressing a media briefing at the SLRC premises yesterday together with the Director General of SRC Saranga Wijeratne and senior management she said during the period the SLRC was under the Cabinet Minister for Media Mangala Samaraweera the heads of five state and semi-state institutions were appointed, namely, the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd (ANCL), Rupavahini Corporation, ITN, Salacine and SLBC.
Inoka Sathyanganie Keerthinanda was appointed on May 17th, 2018, as Chairman of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation after her name had been approved by the three member committee that had been appointed to approve these posts and the committee having deemed her qualified and suitable for the post.
However, after the political coup in October 2018, while the heads of several of these institutions had been asked to hand in their resignations, she and two others had not been asked to resign. Thereafter, once the government was re-established she was re-instated in her position on December 22.
“There is so much of false information regarding this incident being spread. But this false information is not just affecting me personally, but it affects the over 1200 staff, management and most of all it is tarnishing the image of this prestigious state institution. This institution has an illustrious background. If its reputation is being tarnished by such false information, it is our duty as the heads of this institution to come forward and reveal the truth and safeguard this institution’s reputation,” she said, adding that this media briefing was not intended to sling mud at anyone.
Explaining the incidents which had led to this issue at SLRC the Chairperson said that after Non-Cabinet Minister Ruwan Wijewardena was appointed as the Media Minister, it is generally customary that the former minister makes requests to the heads of institutions asking them to step down. “However, the Chairmen of ITN Tilaka Jayasundara, Lake House Chairman Chrishantha Cooray and herself had not been instructed to hand in their resignations. Hence there was no resignations for them. Then after Minister Ruwan Wijewardena had taken office, he had appointed another Chairman to SLRC while I was still serving. In fact, he did not appoint him and send him, but had sent his recommendation to the committee and this committee had not approved.
“First Sanjeewa Wijegunawardena had been recommended to the committee for the post of working director by Minister Wijewaardena, the committee rejected his nomination based on the provisions of the SLRC Act. Then, last Friday, we came to know that another person, the current Working Director of SLRC Kelum Palitha Mahiratne, had been appointed as the Chairman. When he had presented his letter of appointment to my office, I tried to contact the President and find out if such an appointment was approved, as none of us were aware of this move. I received a message from the President that he was not aware of this appointment. Then I spoke to one of the Committee members and he too said he was not aware of such an appointment. Then, I spoke to the Media Ministry Secretary Sunil Samaraweera in the presence of my DG and Administration Director and, the Media Ministry Secretary too said he was not aware of the appointment. Hence, there was no legitimacy to the appointment letter that was brought by this newly appointed Chairman and therefore, I did not leave my post and continued to carry on my duties in my office.”
She added that Mahiratne had then threatened the Rupavahini staff and forced them to type a letter for him and he and several others who had accompanied him had occupied the Board Room. “Thereafter, he had got a letter head and typed a letter on it that he had taken over as the Chairman and forced her secretary to fax the letter to the Media Ministry. This is what my staff told me. I advised them to seek advice from the DG as I was not in the office at the time. I don’t know where he got the letterhead from and I have it with me as I might need it in the event I have to produce it in court or the Government Analyst. It was after the fax had been sent that the Media Ministry Secretary came to know of his appointment. After around 2-3 hours of being in the Board Room they had left.
“This happened on Monday and after they left and as this appointment could not be accepted as it was illegally done, we notified the security personnel not to allow any outsiders in. Then again they returned with another group of persons and had threatened the security as well. By then, we had notified the STF head DIG Lathif as well. When they were becoming more hostile, I notified the DG and then on his advice, we notified the President’s office regarding the incident. We were also notified that the Media Minister was also on his way.”
According to the SLRC Chairperson, after the President was notified, that evening, the President had issued a special gazette and taken over the SLRC under the Defence Ministry. She added that all the CCTV footage of the incident and the letter etc is all kept safely in order to be produced at any time to prove who was wrong. She also noted that during the time Minister Mangala Samaraweera had held the post, they had no interference or pressure and could work freely and independently.
Refuting allegations by the Media Minister that SLRC was an institution which is falling in its ratings, she said since she took over the ratings of SLRC had moved from 8th place to 6th place. Further, she said that under her command 32 programmes had been planned for SLRC and already 15 of them had been implemented and is operational.
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