More revelations of LTL power scam

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Yesterday News 1st exposed a series of suspicious transactions carried out by the company that operates the Lakdhanavi Power Station in Kerawalapitiya. More details have come to light regarding these matters. The verite research findings on which we based our reporting also reveals that there prevails an issue in ascertaining the true owner of the Lakdhanavi Limited because of the complications surrounding the other entities and factions that claim ownership. At a time when no payment had been made to the CEB for the massive risk undertaken by the Government of Sri Lanka, 39.75 % of the dividends had been paid to Lakdhanavi Limited which only owns 4.8 % of the shares. When the numbers are compared it is clear that while the Government had placed a guarantee for a 22.7 Billion Rupee loan, other partners had conveniently made profits in billions. When the agreement was being prepared to purchase electricity from Lakdhanavi Limited, the Ceylon Electricity Board had acted in a manner that raised serious doubts. In the agreement, articles that directly provide a benefit to the company in question had been agreed upon without any hesitation, while the articles that bring a profit to the CEB have been disregarded in a manner that raises a red flag. According to the report, Lakdhanavi Limited had only infused a capital of 02 % while owning only 05 % of shares but has still made massive profits. However, it had acted in an immoral manner disregarding the Government of Sri Lanka which took a massive risk and infused 98 % of the Capital. Issues surrounding LTL Holdings and its subsidiaries have been directed to the attention of the responsible authorities on previous occasions. The matters exposed in the COPE Reports of the 08th Parliament are astounding as well. According to COPE, though the CEB held 63 % of shares of LTL Holding, the CEB had limited control over the operations of the company. It was in 2016 that COPE warned that when LTL and its subsidiaries enjoy massive dividends, the percentage given to the CEB could drop drastically. According to the Auditor General's Deratment, the CEB should have recieved Rs. 7,184mn as dividends in 2016. However, the books in the CEB only record a figure of 6952 Million Rupees as dividends. Can this be expected from a Government that was elected to power to simply oppose corruption? What would be the response of individuals like - Power and Energy Ministry Secretary Dr. Suren Batagoda and CEB Chairman B.Ganegala, who served as a head of LTL Holdings with, Aruna Kumarasinghe, U.D.Jaywardena, MJMN Marikkar, Ravindra Pitigalage and others? The people are watching.