GulfNews,  Sun Mar 12 19:32:01 EST 2006

    Colombo: Police detectives in Sri Lanka are to record a statement from Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Jeevan Kumaratunga over a multi-billion dollar forged passport scandal involving a group of supporters of the minister and Nigerians who provided the forged visas to them.

The move follows revelations made by some of the suspects now in custody in connection with the racket which involved the issue of forged United States visas for jobs in Alaska.

The office of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs was used as the headquarters for the human smuggling operation. It came to light after Criminal Investigations Department (CID) detectives arrested eight Sri Lankan nationals heading for Alaska with forged visas.
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- The Academic

This racket was a known one to many within the PA supporters and no need to mention that Jeewan was the ultimate benificary of the cash collected.

Since the Satelite is no more, her ardent supporters like Jeewan (her late husbands nephew) is getting the punch now.

this is very much common in the ruling party polticians whatever the party is in SL. I know personally a 28 year old man had to mortgage his ancestral family house to get 8 lakhs to pay for a minister in the RW's UNP govt. from the Kalutara Dist. promising them employment in  a factory in Korea.

As in this case some of the lankies of the minister got the money and finally the same minister went to MR's govt and is now the minister of d***** mgt.

The poor chap now have to pay the mortgate fees as well as the family members (sisters) are making his life a hell as they have to run away from the house very soon.

What a poor story for a ambitious young man...  we have a political system that make curse for our nation.


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Wannilage Gomarie
Dambana
Sri Lanka

Now its the time to implement "Mahinda Chinthana" on curruption free goverment. Its pretty evident that this silver screen "Card board" hero is not going to resign and let the probe continue. So its the time that goverment should conduct an impartial inquiry and let the goons oust !!!

Jouranlists should make a big fuss on corruption in sri lanka.

Govt should confiscate their all bank accounts, properties including those registered to immidiate family members.

Most importantly, govt should give certain percentage to those who inform these things, catch and prosecute these things.

Ministers engaged in frauds, corruptions may be at least 30 - 40 years old.

I remember, one time JRJ saying, when he found these things "these people spent lot of money to come to these positions. They need to find that money?.

Human smuggling, drug trafficking, bribery and other corruption, prostitution, illicit liquor etc cannot be reduced as long as there are :

a) Politicians and top officials who are involved and benifitted
b) Ordinary people who are willingly patronise these.

The only way to reduce these is to develop the economy and create job opportunities so that ordinary people do not have to patronise these.

It is a very ugly news that all the Sri-Lankans should strongly criticise the Government as its Minister involved.
Most of the Sri-Lankans (more Sinhalese) have belived that only the Militants are smugglers, but this news proofed
the Sinhalese and Tamils are equal only in illegal activities and terrorism.
 

This is really an extreme example. The problem is that private agencies indulge in blatant extortion and when the government organizes things directly it gives the implementation to its cadres and they rip off the poor Sri Lankan even more.

A few guys from my village got jobs in Saudi; even though they were supposed to have been paid through the government they still paid one and a quarter lakh to the agency (of course the Saudi employer pays all the air fares, medical and visa expenses and pays the agency, so this one and a quarter lakh is just pure extortion). They guys were promised salaries of twenty-thousand a mohth. I and three or four others told them that there was something fishy about the contract because the average salary for cleaners is Saudi is only around ten thousand a month, and it was certainly not worth paying a lakh and a quarter for that.

They didn't listen and now they are wanting to come back! I don't know what salary they got; twenty thousand would be possible if they worked sixty or seventy hours a week, but the ones I know aren't happy and they can't find another job.

Certainly one of the problems is that people willingly agree to be gulled. If there really is a job at the end the company is almost certainly prepared to pay all expenses. If you are having to pay it is because you are being conned.

The worst is that if you are conned you then end up in jail on remand without bail. because Parliament, in one of its many brainfarts decided to make immigration offenses non-bailable so that murderers and bank robbers can get bail but not somebody trying to earn an honest penny overseas.

Looking at the discussions in this forum it seems many in the forum agree that GOSL is corrupt whether it is UNP / SLFP / UPFA. However in this case accused are still Government ministers and the forged visas are for the US.

US Government should take stern action againt GOSL for action and clean up of the cabinet. Governement led corruption like this will lead Sri Lanka to become a transit point for international terrorists.

It seems rather appalling to see so many of you disgusted at the behaviour of your beloved politicians. One thing you dont remember is that you voted them into power to represent you. Now you have to bear the grunt and the burden they pose onto you. It is a known fact that Sri Lanka is amongst the most corrupt nations in the world. I'v lived a fair amount of my life in Sri Lanka and I'v come to understand the fact that there is no clear cut solution to this problem, as long as your politicians (law makers) abuse their powers with your birthright (vote) to such extremes that you poor souls are trodden upon like dirt. So please dont complain, join your politicians to the Temple/church on a Poya Day/Sunday and worship with them hoping that together with the local monk/priest their sins are forgiven. You lot will never learn. If one is gullible enough to mortgage his house and land just for going overseas on an airplane, then there is something radically wrong with you blokes. Go get yourself an education.

gavfla wrote:

It seems rather appalling to see so many of you disgusted at the behaviour of your beloved politicians. One thing you dont remember is that you voted them into power to represent you. Now you have to bear the grunt and the burden they pose onto you. It is a known fact that Sri Lanka is amongst the most corrupt nations in the world. I'v lived a fair amount of my life in Sri Lanka and I'v come to understand the fact that there is no clear cut solution to this problem, as long as your politicians (law makers) abuse their powers with your birthright (vote) to such extremes that you poor souls are trodden upon like dirt. So please dont complain, join your politicians to the Temple/church on a Poya Day/Sunday and worship with them hoping that together with the local monk/priest their sins are forgiven. You lot will never learn. If one is gullible enough to mortgage his house and land just for going overseas on an airplane, then there is something radically wrong with you blokes. Go get yourself an education.

Ah ! Thank you for that. Yes. Sri Lankans definitely need education. No doubt where you are from, politicians are lily-white and virginal with no taint of scandal ever to tarnish their reputation. And no corrupt politician is ever elected, right ? And I bet there are no poor people either ! No need to scratch a living like they have to in "third world" Sri Lanka.. no need to go abroad to find a better job or life

Perhaps you can tell me where this utopian civilisation is. I'd love to live there.

The scale of corruption in the Civilised West is light-years ahead of Sri Lanka at any level. While not justifiying it's existence, the unforunate reality is that corruption is wrong only if you are stupid enough to get caught.

I would hazard a guess that you are Australian. That place first ..er... "colonised"...   by exported convicted criminals from Britain.



Last edited by proximus on Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:56 pm; edited 2 times in total

HK govt tolerated for over a decade the hundreds of illegal SLankans just brought and dumped in HK for non existing jobs by these SLankan job agents. In '80s and '90s HK gave 3 months visitor visa on arrival to any SL passport holder. At last HK Govt closed the door, now SL passport holders are not even allowed to transit through HK airport.

Although this step by HK Govt put me (SL passport) in great inconvenience - I fully support their action.

On several occasions in HK I have spoken to some of those poor people who were dumped by SL job agents, they all say they paid over Rs 100,000 for these non existing jobs.

On one occasion the guys told me that they had no reason to suspect the agent's word as the agent is very close to the labour minister (the politician mentioned in Gomeriew's comment)

gomariew wrote:

As in this case some of the lankies of the minister got the money and finally the same minister went to MR's govt and is now the minister of d***** mgt.

I am not sure why you want to hide this MPs name. If there is reliable information that can prove this Minster is corrupt, then might as well make the allegation out in the open. As far as I know there is only one that fit this profile and that is MP Mahinda Samarasinghe shown here sitting next to Mahinda Chintanaya -> here.