Chairman of Lanka Coal Company Removed

Maithri Gunaratne was removed from his position as Chairman of Lanka Coal Company yesterday, by Minister of Power and Renewable Energy, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya when he dissolved the board of directors.
Earlier in the day, Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy B.M.S. Batagoda had written to the President and Minister demanding the resignation of ‎Maithri Gunaratne, Chairman of Lanka Coal Company (Pvt) Ltd, who had opposed the attempts to sign an unfavourable deal to import coal to Sri Lanka.

In the letter, dated 15 January, Batagoda accused Gunaratne of not taking any action on the Auditor General’s report which stated that Sri Lankan Government has lost at least Rs 4,145 million due to corrupt deals made from 2009 to 2016 with regard to the import of coal.

“In order to make Lanka Coal Company (Pvt) Ltd a strong institution, which would not repeat the mistakes of the past, I recommend to dissolve the Board of Directors at Lanka Coal Company (Pvt) Ltd and to call for a special meeting of all shareholders to decide on the future course of action,” Batagoda said.