School ekata balen awith seppuwe sallith genihin paraya video thiyenawa link eke yanna,
onna balapalla bokkala manduka bawane manduka inna hati, puke agilla gahanda koheda inne ban
Menna link eka gihin balanna , mqnduka bawans manduka innawa diga adila
Uge guu kana ballo tikath innawa , staff dennekta tharjanaya karala kari ponnaya
https://lankanewsweb.net/news/speci...ies-from-safe-changes-school-name-board-video
Forcefully takes over Stafford Sri Lanka School, robs monies from safe & changes school name board!
President Maithripala Sirisena's political appointee and ambassador to Qatar A.S.P. Liyanage in thuggish manner, forcefully took over the keys belonging to the Stafford Sri Lanka School Doha, broke open the schools safe, stole its money, invaluable documents and changed the name board of the school.
This entire ugly incident which has now continued to bring bad publicity to the entire Sri Lankan expatriate community in Qatar happened on the 6th of July 2018, when Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage arrived at the school's main gate escorted by three police vehicles.
Stafford Sri Lanka School Doha at that time was operated by a skeletal staff due to the ongoing school holiday season, whilst maintenance work was being carried out in its premises.
The school's local sponsor, Qatari national Yusuf Fridoni and Founder Chairman of the school Kumudu Fonseka arrived at the premise when employees of the school informed them that the Sri Lankan Ambassador had arrived at the premise escorted by Police.
The police personnel who were merely escorting the Sri Lankan Ambassador on a request made by the Sri Lankan Embassy were hoodwinked by Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage that he had obtained a court order to collect the keys belonging to Stafford Sri Lanka Doha School in Qatar.
After an ensuing discussion that took place for more than one and a half hours outside the school’s premises, the misled local sponsor Yusuf Fridoni instructed Chairman Fonseka to hand over the keys to the school gate and to the reception area. This is as the local sponsor Yusuf Fridoni wanted to avoid the ugly publicity that this incident was bringing in the view of the public.
It was much later upon checking with government authorities did the local sponsor and the management of the school identify that there was no such court order and that it was a blatant lie of the Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage.
Despite illegally taking over physical control of the institution, Ambassador Liyanage went on to forcibly throw out the staff of the school and also the contractors and workmen who was completing maintenance work.
Thereafter with the assistance of another Sri Lankan expatriate named Pantalin Perera the ambassador positioned six security personnel from Al Bateel Security Services and brought down the name boards belonging to Stafford Sri Lankan School Doha.
They then erected new name boards which read 'Sri Lanka Community School'.
The new name board erected however still carried the logo of Stafford Sri Lanka School Doha.
Further it is reliably learnt that the ambassador along with another Sri Lankan expatriate businessman named Tennyson Silva and his wife who runs a chain of Sri Lankan Restaurants named 'White Oceanic', and staff of the Sri Lanka Embassy, forcibly broke open the doors of the School's administration, Finance and I.T departments.
An employee of the embassy who was party to the break in speaking to Lanka News Web on condition of anonymity said "We were ordered by Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage to break open one of the school's safes and remove all monies and documents. We ransacked the entire school office. There was huge sum of money which we took from one of the safes after we broke it open. We also removed all the administration documents of the school and also some personal documents belonging to Chairman Kumudu Fonseka".
Despite not being able to break into the schools I.T. data base and other useful information and administrative documents that A.S.P. Liyanage was after, he then went on to telephone staff of Stafford Sri Lanka School Doha and personally threaten them.
Speaking in the vernacular Ambassador Liyanage had threatened them saying “Despite being the Ambassador, don't forget that I am also an underworld thug back in Sri Lanka. If you don't obey my commands as Ambassador I will destroy you and your families back home one by one".
Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage had telephoned and threatened the Suranga Fernando the Administration Manager of the school who was in Colombo.
He had also called and threatened the I.T Administrator Amila in his quest to obtain the passwords that protected the school's I.T Systems. However in this instance Amila's sister, who had answered the phone, informed Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage that she and her family were not fearful of his threats as they had ample protection from the government back home in Sri Lanka. The Ambassador had then meekly hung up.
Speaking to a cross section of parents it was revealed that the Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage has ordered the school be closed barring entrance to any of the Stafford Sri Lanka School Doha or parents from entering the premises.
New padlocks have been used on all four entry/exit points to its premises and security personnel from Al Bateel have been stationed to guard the premise.
The unwarranted and illegal actions of Ambassador Liyanage have now caused irreparable damage to the students, staff and parents of the Stafford Sri Lanka Doha School.
The following were concerns and inconveniences that staff, parents and students of Stafford Sri Lanka School Doha are currently facing.
1. Total confusion as the entire Sri Lankan expatriate community in Doha especially parents are unaware of the future of the children’s' education.
2. Special classes organized for students sitting the Ordinary Level Examinations during this summer holiday season has been stopped.
3. Scheduled Summer Programme for school children has been stopped.
4. Teacher training development workshops have stopped.
5. Ordering of school text books for new academic year has been stopped.
6. Enrollment of student intake for new academic year commencing September 2018 has been stopped.
7. Placing orders of new uniforms for students has been stopped.
8. Inability for professionals who utilize the school premise for training and development workshops has stopped.
9. Recruitment of staff scheduled during this period has stopped.
According to reliable sources within the Foreign Ministry of Sri Lanka it is learnt that the State Minister for Foreign Affairs Wasantha Senanayake had officially intimated to Ambassador A. S. P. Liyanage that President Maithripala Sirisena had given him clear instructions for the Sri Lankan Embassy in Qatar to refrain from having any further dealings with the school.
See email below..
Despite been warned by President Maithripala Sirisena and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Wasantha Senanayake, Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage still went ahead and chose to do as he pleased.
Earlier on the 28th of May 2018, President Maithripala Sirisena had summoned Ambasador Liyanage and the Stafford Sri Lankan School Doha Chairman Kumudu Fonseka and members of the Board of Trustees for talks in Colombo. At the conclusion of that meeting President Sirisena also made it known to both parties that he would provide his decision based on what had been discussed.
However till to date President Maithripala Sirisena has continued to remain mute regarding his decision, paving the way for Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage to run amok in the Gulf state of Qatar.
Lanka News Web made an attempt to contact authorities of both Stafford Sri Lanka School Doha and also Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage for a quote on this ongoing saga.
When the Founder / Chairman of the school Kumudu Fonseka were contacted he said “We are saddened by the way Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage continues to badger us and the school. It is not us but the children who are getting affected by his behaviour. We have taken the stance and await instructions from President Maithripala Sirisena as he promised us he will get back with his decision as to how this ongoing problem is to be resolved. This school is officially owned by our local sponsor Mr.Yusuf Fridoni and the Stafford SriLanka Doha School is managed by a Board of Trustees who have been running this institution for 18 long years on an honorary capacity. The School is also governed by a constitution that has been in place since its inception. I wish to categorically say that the Sri Lanka Embassy in Qatar was appointed only as an affiliation with us appointing the then Ambassador Padukkage as our Patron of the school. The Sri Lankan Embassy does not own the school. as The current action taken by Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage is totally illegal. How can anyone forcibly barge in and physically take over something that does not belong to them? This is not Sri Lanka. Qatar as a country is governed by its own set of rules. I am confident that this issue will be resolved soon and Stafford Sri Lanka School Doha will be able to function as we have been doing so for the last 18 years.”
However despite several calls made to the Sri Lanka Embassy it proved futile in obtaining a quote from Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage.
A staff member of the school when contacted said "It will be interesting to see if A.S.P. Liyanage would benefit from gaining diplomatic immunity for his actions of forceful entry and theft is filed by the Qatari local sponsor Yusuf Fredoni. Even if he does get immunity I doubt all other Sri Lankan expatriates who partook in this act may enjoy the same privileges that Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage may have. Hundreds of disgruntled parents of students of Stafford Sri Lanka School Doha have signed and submitted a petition against Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo and are yet to receive a response. "
It has also been reported that Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage has been giving interviews to the Peninsular Newspaper in Qatar and circulating one sided stories that have been published on his behalf.
It was earlier reported that Ambassador Liyanage had made three daring attempts to take over the school by abusing his privileges as an Ambassador. However on all three occasions his attempts were thwarted by the Chairman and the Board of Trustees of the school.
Having failed miserably in the past Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage has now resorted to muscling his way and in the process has now gone on to break the laws of the land in Qatar.
His three previous attempts are found below:
Below is a chronological sequence of his attempts done in the short span he has been appointed as the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Qatar.
1. Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage once froze the bank account of the school going beyond his powers in doing so. Freezing the account will close the school due to lack of funds to sustain business operations.
2. Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage officially complained to the Supreme Council IN Qatar to send officials from Council to visit the School and have it shut down, as he complained that the school was in a dilapidated state and was not meeting the required standards of the Ministry of Education in Qatar.
3. Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage deprived the school of recruiting 15 employees for over two and a half months to meet their staffing requirements to support the 1000 strong student population.
How each sabotage attempt of Ambassador A.S.P. Liyanage was nullified
1. The Qatari sponsor of Stafford Sri Lanka School Doha, Yusuf Fridoni personally visited the bank maintaining the school account and informed them that the school bank account was in his name as the sponsor of the school. He requested the bank authorities to follow the standard bank mandate and unblock his account so that the school could continue to function unhindered. It was immediately corrected by the bank authorities and the bank account was unfrozen.
2. The Supreme Council officials who visited the school on the 26th August 2017, found that Ambassador A.S.P. Liyange's complaints to be untrue. They in fact had pity on the school authorities for the inconveniences the ambassador was making to the only Sri Lankan School functioning here in Qatar.
The Supreme Council as a matter of fact then dismissed Ambassador Liyanage's claims. The Supreme Council officials thereafter expressed their appreciation in the manner the school was functioning and went on to support the school in running of the day to day affairs of the school.
3. Minister Harin Fernando came to the rescue of the school, when he overran the decision taken earlier by A.S.P. Liyanage the Qatar Ambassador to Sri Lanka. He provided instructions to proceed with processing the 15 work visas the school required to support the staffing issues faced.
Links of previous articles published by Lanka News Web on this issue:
Minister Harin Fernando Overrides Qatar Ambassador Liyanage To Rescue Doha Sri Lanka School
EXCLUSIVE : President Summons Qatar Ambassador Liyanage & Stafford School Board Trustees For Talks In Colombo
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