Former Land Reclamation Corp. chairman granted bail

The Colombo Magistrate’s Court has ordered the release on bail of former Chairman of the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation & Development Corporation (SLLRDC), Harshan de Silva, who was arrested by the Bribery Commission.

He was arrested for allegedly causing a loss of Rs. 27.6 million to the government by spending funds allocated for the Colombo flood control project in 2014 on festive activities without following the procurement process.

The suspect, who was arrested by officers of the Bribery Commission, was produced before Colombo Chief Magistrate Thanuja Lakmali this afternoon (15).

Accordingly, the Chief Magistrate ordered the suspect to be released on five surety bonds of Rs. 1 million each and also imposed a foreign travel ban on the accused.

The case was then ordered to be called on June 24.

The Bribery Commission informed the court that a ceremony had been held in 2014for the initial phase of the ‘Weras Ganga Project’, which was implemented from Rattana Pitiya in Nugegoda to Bellanwila to control the floodwater in Colombo.

The Bribery Commission officials stated that the accused former chairman had entrusted the task of conducting the opening ceremony to a private firm, and that the government’s accepted procurement process had not been followed in this.

In addition, the Bribery Commission said that the suspect had carried out this work with the aim of providing a benefit to the relevant company and had not obtained the approval of the Board of Directors of the Land Reclamation & Development Corporation for this.

The Commission stated that investigations revealed that the government had suffered a loss to the tune of Rs. 27.6 million through this action.

The Chief Magistrate, after considering the arguments presented by the prosecution and defense attorneys, then issued this order granting bail to the accused.