• Cites provincial and local politicos’ interference as reasons 

The Lanka Sugar Company (Private) Limited Company’s Chairperson, Sandamali Chandrasekera has resigned from her post, citing the difficulty of continuing as Head of the Institution due to interference by provincial-level politicians.

In a letter addressed to the Industries and Entrepreneurship Development Minister Sunil Hadunneththi on Tuesday (17), Chandrasekera said that during her tenure, there had been several instances where requests and expectations were conveyed to the Company that would have required violations of circulars, regulations and established legal procedures. 

She stated that in each such instance, the Company’s administration remained bound by its statutory and fiduciary obligations, which prevented it from complying with such requests.

However, she noted this stance had led to growing friction with certain provincial politicians. Repeated attempts by the Company’s administration to explain the legal and regulatory limits under which the Institution operates had not been accepted. She said the continuing pressure from local politicians to act contrary to laws, regulations and Government circulars had made it extremely difficult for her to continue in the post in a manner consistent with good governance and institutional integrity.

Chandrasekera pointed out further the Company, being a loss-making State-owned Enterprise, was required to function under strict financial and regulatory controls, including oversight by the Public Enterprises Department. She said that this framework had been essential to ensure accountability and proper governance, but that the same inevitably placed firm limitations on how the Institution could operate and respond to outside demands.

Meanwhile, The Daily Morning learns from reliable sources that Lanka Sugar Company’s CEO Deepika K. Gunaratne has also submitted his resignation.