Rajapakse to crack down on corruption

By Dushy Ranetunge

(January 09, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) One would have thought that extortion was the domain of the LTTE, but incredibly it has been revealed that a notorious minister of the Rajapakse government has been engaging in extortion.

The incident has taken place in a plush award winning restaurant in the capital some time ago, but kept under wraps for fear of repercussions, although most of Colombo is aware of it.

The non-cabinet Minister had swarmed into the restaurant with his goons and abducted the husband of the proprietor. The following day, the Ministers son had walked into the restaurant and demanded 10% of the profits or an undisclosed amount each month.

The proprietor, a foreign national who had been a criminal lawyer before becoming a Restaurantor had stood her ground and shown the Minister’s son and his goons the door.

She had raised hell, taking up the issue with the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry via her embassy and even speaking to the President’s Secretary, Lalith Weeratunga who had been very supportive.

Later the non-Cabinet minister had apologised to the restaurant proprietor through her lawyer and invited her for breakfast at a “machang” level.

This week, the President made an election pledge that he would, if re-elected, clamp down on corruption, while continuing to provide refuge to criminals and extortionists in his government.