Radar- Gate: Kickbacks to Foneska’s Danuna in China Radar Deal: Eight Questions To The General

By now it has become a set routine for Presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka to deny any wrong doing as army commander.

But his every denial prompts Asian Tribune to dig deep into his past and unearth something to unsettle him. Yet, instead of offering his side, the retired general goes into an overdrive to run down Asian Tribune in interviews to various Sinhala publications.

Why he is not coming forward to articulate his denial in the Asian Tribune itself remains a puzzle. Is it because politicians don’t generally like to send a rebuttal to publications as the editors have the inherent right to put each sentence of the denial under a microscope and juxtapose the denials with the original allegations.

Media pundits and commentators aver that the former army chief is not serving his own cause by not using AT columns to put forth his side.

The non-denial through Asian Tribune is not a disincentive to AT though.

We have just come across a Radar Gate -kickbacks in a radar deal.

Like in many other shady deals that marked the tenure of Fonseka as army chief, the radar deal also involved his son-in-law Danuna Tilakaratne and his company Hicorp.

Now that Danuna is in Colombo, the CID should have no difficulty to find out the ‘truth’ from him, even if the father-in-law prefers to observe silence.

On the Chinese side, CETC International Co. ltd acted as the supplier of radar with Hicorp as its local agent. The kick back was 10 per cent of the deal value.

Asian Tribune’s investigations show that the Chinese company entered the fray as General Fonseka insisted on buying SLC-2 Weapon Locating Radar as a replacement for American made ANTPQ – 36 version radars in Sri Lankan service.

For reasons unclear, the general rejected plans to refurbish the American Radars. He even cold shouldered representatives of American company Raytheon, which had come forward to refurbish ANTPQ-36 version and certify that refurbishment would give them a long life.

Sri Lankan army had bought four of these radars to locate enemy artillery and mortar. Two radars were acquired in 1996 and two more were procured in 1999 as the threat from LTTE Tigers and their mortar fire loomed large on the horizon.

Army sources are unwilling to hazard a guess as to why the general favoured Chinese radars ignoring Raytheon offer.

From a purely technical point, American offer was sound. It would have cost in May 2006 the Sri Lanka exchequer American dollars 1.6 million.

The Chinese deal cost the country very dearly.

SLC-2 Weapon Locating Radar of Chinese was priced American dollars 7,507,500. Under the general’s direction, whose word was manna in those days of heightened military activity, the country entered into an American dollar 45 million agreement with China for five SLC-2 radars.
Documents available with Asian Tribune show that the Chinese company, CETC International Co. Ltd submitted its quotation to Gen Fonseka himself.

Here we publish the text of the letter the Chinese company had sent. (CETC/SRG/0824-801 dated 24 Aug 2006).

Readers perusing the letter will come across a reference to a meeting between army chief (Gen Fonseka) and Mme Lu Hua on 14 November 2005. The meeting took place when the General was on a visit to China. Put differently, the letter was an acknowledgement of a ‘match fixing’ for the radar deal.

Documents marked 2 and 3 are further proof of the involvement of Hicorp in the deal and the quiet follow up by Lakshman Abeyasekera, its director in Colombo.

These documents also show that Lakshman Abeysekera addressed letters to the Defence Secretary seeking approval for their principal supplier CET International Ltd. ‘China’s representative will be in Colombo between 19th September to 21st September to meet the Sri Lanka Army Commander and the relevant officers to discuss with them the supply of the Radar and the other products’.

At the behest of Army Commander, the defence ministry entered into an agreement with CETC International on 26th April 2007. As already pointed out the total deal value was American dollars 45, 267, 062/- . The Chinese company offered a special discount of American dollars 225,000.00 towards Technical Documentation and this discount was to be adjusted while making the payment of final instalment.

Even with this above board discount to the government, Hicorp is said to have made a neat cut of American dollars 4.5 million as its commission.

Yet, in an interview with the Swarnavahini TV, Sarath Fonseka gave a ‘clean chit’ to Danuna Tilakaratne. ‘My son-in-law was not involved in murky deals and he made no offers (to sell military hardware) to the Army’, he stated blandly.

The China Radar deal punctures the claim.

In fact, the deal also raises several serious questions, which the former army chief alone can reply.

1. What was the rationale to reject the Raytheon offer to refurbish the existing radars?

2. Did any technical committee evaluate the Raytheon offer? If so, was the offer found technically sound?

3. Did Raytheon guarantee that after refurbishment the ANTPQ -36 radars would get fresh lease of effectiveness?

4. What was the justification to go in for China radars?

5. Was there any technical evaluation before the government signed a deal with the Chinese supplier?

6. Was the army or government aware of the presence of middleman, Hicorp, a company of army chief’s son-in-law?

7. Did the Chinese radars function effectively during the Wanni War?

8. Did the CID question Danuna Tilakaratne in connection with radar and other deals where in he and Hicorp figure?

Sidelight- Kapila Exploits

A sidelight to the China Radar Deal is the accident that featured Colonel Kapila Ratnayake, a brigade commander and an enchanting woman soldier Private Lenora D, in Colombo.

The Colonel is a good friend of Foneska. He had migrated to Australia after he was sacked in the wake of the ‘vehicle accident’. He has since returned home to join the Foneska campaign team.

Asian Tribune understands that Colonel Kapila was sacked on charges that include involvement in immoral activities. According to highly placed sources, the Military Police found two mobile phones in the ‘ill-fated’ vehicle and also ‘evidence’ of his immoral activities.

Provost Marshal Jagath Wijesri of the military police who conducted the investigation against Colonel Kapila Ratnayake regarding the vehicle accident and the presence of the Private Lenora D was subsequently transferred out of the Military Police and sent to Trincomalee when Sarath Fonseka took over the helm of the Sri Lanka Army. Asian Tribune now learnt that now he has been moved back as Provost Marshal

After his dismissal from army service, Col Kapila became an adjunct of the Hicorp. He reportedly involved himself with the Army Technical Boards which were set up to evaluate weapons on offer from the middleman, Hicorp.

Asian Tribune, knowing the sensitivity of the deals, has taken great care to go over the fine print before coming before the readers about the shady deals involving Gen Fonseka and his son-in-law.

AT columns are open to the General and his Danuna for their reaction/ rebuttal.

-Asian Tribune -