Sri Lanka factory occupied over govt takeover plan

Tiger wrote:Where are the DS and MS, missing in action........

* Company slated to be taken over by government in Sri Lanka comes under mob attack
Fri, Nov 4, 2011, 09:18 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.


Nov 04, Colombo: An unidentified mob, allegedly the supporters of a government legislator of Sri Lanka, has reportedly taken over the Sevanagala Sugar Industries Limited, local media reported.

Daya Group of Companies that own the factory says that the managers of the factory have been removed from the premises and some employees have been assaulted.

The company is an asset slated to be taken over by the government under Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilized Assets Act which is to be tabled in the parliament next week.

The Company says that the group that has taken over the factory has blocked access roads to the factory disrupting the functioning of the factory.

Sevanagala Sugar Industries Limited is owned by key United National Party (deleted) financier and businessman Daya Gamage. It was purchased by him in 2002 for Rs. 550 million. The company says that it is profiting now.

Gamage has said that no one bearing any responsibility in the government has investigated the illegal incident and pointed out the need to probe these incidents as it will affect the whole business community in the country.

The deleted has meanwhile, accused the government of trying to create a shortage in sugar to facilitate the takeover of the two sugar companies that are making profits but included in the list of 36 companies categorized as underperforming and underutilized.

Sri Lanka factory occupied over government takeover plan
Sevanagala Sugar Industries, controlled by an opposition politician, said ruling party activists forcibly evicted the management from the plant
AFP,Friday 04 November 2011

Government supporters in Sri Lanka have stormed and occupied a private sugar company earmarked for nationalisation under a controversial law, the owners said on Friday.

Sevanagala Sugar Industries, which is controlled by an opposition politician, said that ruling party activists had forcibly evicted the management from the sugar plant in the south of the island on Thursday.

Company owner Daya Gamage said a director of the company was beaten up and other managers were locked out by a pro-government mob which also damaged two vehicles and disrupted work at the factory.

"We have complained to the police, but nothing is being done to protect the factory," Gamage told reporters in Colombo.

The government, which declined to comment on the raid, has defended the proposed law to nationalise "under-performing" private companies and it rejected allegations the policy was designed to crush political opposition.

President Mahinda Rajapakse's administration is set to introduce the bill next week in parliament, where his party commands a two-thirds majority.

The influential Bar Association of Sri Lanka asked the government to withdraw the bill.

"We appeal to the president, the government and all promoters of the bill to take steps to ensure that the bill is withdrawn and not passed without opportunity of further careful scrutiny...," it said in a statement.

Rajapakse, who exerts huge control over Sri Lankan politics, has been accused by international rights organisations of undermining media freedom and thwarting dissent, charges vehemently denied by the government.

The president is also the minister of finance and his immediate family members hold key positions with authority over the day-to-day running of the the economy, military and parliament.

Sri Lanka has been trying to woo investors after defeating Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009 and declaring an end to nearly four decades of ethnic violence that killed up to 100,000 people.