FSP complains of irregularities in a Guinness World Record event held in Sri Lanka

The Jana Aragala Sandhanaya yesterday lodged a complaint with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), calling for an investigation into Deputy Minister Sundaralingam Pradeep over alleged irregularities related to a Guinness World Record event held in Sri Lanka. The organisation alleged that state patronage had been extended to a private company for the event and that large sums of money had been collected from around 5,000 families of participating students. Speaking to the media, after submitting the complaint, Jana Aragala Sandhanaya National Executive Council member and Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) Secretary, Duminda Nagamuwa, alleged that the government had promoted the Bharatanatyam workshop, held on June 14, as an event that secured a Guinness World Record for the participation of the largest number of students. He said a government politician had taken the lead in organising the event, attended by Deputy Minister Mahinda Jayasinghe. Nagamuwa questioned the decision to provide state support for an event organised by a private entity, claiming that the Guinness certificate issued for the achievement had been awarded not to Sri Lanka or a state institution, but to a company. “Why did the government provide state patronage to a private institution’s programme?” he asked. He alleged that each of the approximately 5,000 participating students had paid Rs. 5,000, resulting in the collection of a substantial amount of money. He claimed that parents were also asked to pay additional amounts of Rs. 3,450 for logos and Rs. 2,350 for certificates. Nagamuwa alleged that many families, from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, had incurred heavy expenses travelling to Colombo and staying there for several days for the event, with some families spending around Rs. 30,000 each.