The national carrier had paid over Rs 415 million to two advertising agencies linked to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa for displaying hoardings on behalf of the airline, it was revealed at the Presidential Commission to inquire into allegations of large scale frauds and malpractices in SriLankan Airlines, SriLankan Catering Ltd and Mihin Lanka (Pvt) Ltd last week.
Testifying before the Commission, Priyadarshani Epitawala, then advertising manager of SriLankan Airlines said former CEO of the airline, Kapila Chandraseana had requested her to prioritise Kuma Stickers Pvt Ltd in all advertising related work, disregarding the procurement guidelines set out by the managing airline, Emirates.
Kuma Stickers became a household name during the final years of the Rajapaksa presidency, when the advertiser proudly stamped ‘Kuma Stickers’ on thousands of hoardings featuring the image of Mahinda Rajapaksa. Both Kuma Stickers and Vihanga Marketing are companies based in Beliatta, Hambantota, the hometown of the former first family. It was also revealed at the commission that another agency called Vihanga Marketing & Advertising Services Private Limited (both companies were owned by the same family) has also engaged with SriLankan advertising. All deals awarded to both companies have been without considering competitive tenders.
Epitawela testified that Chandrasena told her the company should support Kuma Stickers because the Government did ‘a lot of business’ with Kuma Stickers.
According to statistics submitted before the Commission, payments for Kuma Stickers by the airline increased monumentally between 2011-2015. In 2011/2012 Rs 17 million had been paid to Kuma Stickers from SriLankan, but that amount had increased to
Rs 76 million in 2012/2013 – a whopping 346% increase. In the following year (2013/2014) this amount has further grown to Rs 77 million and to Rs 140 million in 2014/ 2015.
Once the Government changed in 2015, so did the payments, according to evidence laid before the Commission. The amount paid to the Rajapksa-backed advertiser was slashed to Rs 50 million in 2015/2016 and Rs 25 million in 2016/2017. By 2017/2018 the amount plummeted to Rs 2 million. Kuma Stickers was also given special insurance rates by SriLankan for advertising hoardings. Since Priyadarshani Epitawala was compelled to give evidence before the commission she has clearly stated fears for her life in the event of a regime change.Epitawela also testified before the Weliamuna Board of Inquiry into Sri Lankan Airlines which uncovered major corruption at the national airline in 2015. In its report, the Weliamuna BoI found that SriLankan had spent considerable amounts of money on local advertising through companies like Kuma Stickers, compared to brand advertising overseas where it had to attract a clientele.
Epitawela told the Commission into SriLankan that she had no faith in the system since she had also given evidence before the Weliamuna BoI and admitted she had fears about her career and her life.