We, the Customs Whistleblowers, observe unprecedented media frenzy over the removal of the Sarath Jayathilake from the office of the DGC. In our view, the media seems to be utterly ignorant of the improper conduct of the Sarath Jayathilake as the head of the Customs for over a 9 – year period. We doubt whether the so-called ‘trade unions’ agitating for his return, do mirror the opinion of the general membership or serve the interests of a few stooges of former DGC Sarath Jayathilake.
We act as the watchdog of the public in the protection of government revenue and our main concern is to protect the public interest in this sphere. We are fully aware of the responsibility vested in the Customs as the major revenue collector and we believe that the decision, although belated, by the President to kick Jayathilake out unceremoniously from the office of the DGC must be hailed as a step in the right direction in protecting the government revenue.
Sarath Jayathilake, the simple young man, begins his Customs career
Jayathialake joined Customs along with his colleague, the ‘well-known’ Customs character, H M R Tissera in 1978 as the first ever directly enlisted Assistant Directors of Customs. Both these young people who inherited nothing and used public transport to travel to work were very keen to come up in their life within a shortest possible timeframe. It was an innocent desire of any youth of their age. Out of these two young men, Tissera was ‘smarter’ and played a remarkable ‘T20 innings’ in the Customs, in playing out public funds until he was shown the door out prematurely a few years ago. He was lucky to have an opportunity to retire without facing a criminal charge for embezzling public funds in hundreds of millions of rupees. However, it is not a secret in the Customs circles that, after his removal Tissera found it difficult to recover his ill-gotten black money [over 600 million rupees] loaned to motor spare parts traders in Panchikawatte. It is also rumored that he continues to suffer from an incurable disease as a consequence of his sins committed against the suffering masses of the Nation. The public funds that should have gone to the people had been robbed by Tissera to satisfy his greed.
Before coming back to the story of young Jayathilake it is pertinent to mention that the then head of the department, HB Dissanayake, had been highly worried about his own mistake of enlisting these two young men straight to the staff officer grade believing that they would set an example to the entire Customs service by being ‘Men of Integrity’. Unlike Tissera, Jayathilake choose to play a real ‘Test Innings’ in the Customs service with right temperament and consistency and rose up to become the DGC, in spite of all his nefarious activities committed in connivance with the government revenue fraudsters. At the end of their respective ‘innings’ both of them demonstrated to the entire Customs service how not to become ‘Men of Integrity’. The saddest part of the story is that a substantial number of officers in the service followed these two characters in turning themselves rouge elements. So much so for the great expectations of HB Dissanayake, the man who relied on them for their integrity, which has unfortunately not gone into their systems at birth!
It is a story that any independent observer would undoubtedly raise the question as to how these two young humble men became unbelievably enriched themselves and powerful figures within a relatively short span of time. No government servant in parallel services would be able even to imagine the enormous wealth amassed by these two characters by the time they passed their middle age. No wonder HB Dissanayake, the former head of Customs [1973-1988], had a shock of his life by watching the unfolding drama of playing out public funds under his own eyes by his own ‘selectees’ placed in the powerful positions in the Customs service. It is clear that Jayathilake became smarter than Tissera as the time went by and managed to survive under several regimes whilst surreptitiously resorting to violate his statutory obligations under the Customs Law.
We are unaware whether the ‘Greatest DGC ever’ produced by Customs is enjoying a ‘peaceful’ retirement or a ‘painful’ retirement. We strongly believe that the natural law of justice will take its own course on Jayathilake too as in the case of his erstwhile colleague Tissera. Apart from the turning of ‘Wheel of Kamma,’ we believe that there is a strong possibility of hauling him before a court of law in real life for the misdeeds committed by him.
The President has already indicated that the Corruption Commission would be restored very soon to deal with all wrongdoers irrespective of their former or current status. Therein the credible evidence of corruption and malpractices, already placed before the Corruption Commission against Jayathilake would surely be inquired into. It is a fact that the said charges include unlawful directives, his contribution towards creating a bad law nullifying the deterrents imposed by statute law and misappropriation of informants’ shares of rewards [ the media please note! ]
We firmly believe that the damage caused by Jayathilake to the revenue collection methodology of Customs is beyond imagination. Jayathilake had been already exposed for his unbecoming conduct that opened the flood gates for organized revenue fraudsters to pilfer billions of government revenue. The improper role he played in the SC Appeal No 49/2008 allowing former CJ Sarath Silva to create a bad law that suspended the operation of statue law, the Customs Ordinance, has already cost the government of its rightful revenue in billions and continues unabated. Refer to the exposure under the headings;
a. ‘Sarath Silva’s creation of bad law targeting Customs allows DGC Jayathilake to thrive on,’
b. How the DGC prevented the operation of law
We unreservedly support the right action in the right direction by the President
The President and the ST are fully aware of the enormous damage caused to Customs revenue collection methodology by Jayathilake. Numbers of representations have been made to the President seeking remedial actions to check the decline of the Customs service and to restore the pride of service once again. Therefore, the action taken by the President to remove Jayathilake from the office of the DGC is a welcome move and also a lesson for all the other corrupt officials holding high office. Now the time has come for all patriotic and committed officers to give their best to the Nation building efforts of the government headed by the President Mahinda Rajapakse.
So much so for the two humble young men directly enlisted to the Customs as Assistant Directors of Customs by mistake. Both of them had a great time, energy and opportunity to serve Nation as never before. But it was sad that they collectively failed in their duty by trying to satisfy their never ending desires ignoring the consequences that are very costly.
Sri Lanka Customs Whistleblowers 