Bank TUs meet President, raise concerns over BOC and PB Acting GM appointments

• TU reps tell President Acting GMs appointments outside laid-out procedure
• President assures delegation PB and BOC Chairman will be asked to look into concerns
• Cabinet Spokesman hints officials removed due to failure to properly implement special SME credit support scheme

Representatives of the Ceylon Bank Employees Union (CBEU) met with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday in Colombo, to express concern about the appointment of two acting General Managers (GMs)/Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) to the Bank of Ceylon and People’s Bank, following what they claim is the irregular removal of the incumbent officers without following proper procedure.

The trade union representatives informed the President that removal of officials of the State banks has to be done according to a laid-out procedure, and when new appointments are made there has to confirmation that the appointees are “fit and proper” to hold these posts, CBEU spokesman Kesara Kottegoda said.

Bank of Ceylon General Manager/CEO K. B. Senarath Bandara and People’s Bank General Manager/CEO G.B.P. Rasitha Gunawardana were removed recently, and acting officials appointed, which resulted in protests by the bank employees.

Kottegoda said President Rajapaksa had assured the delegation that he would ask the Chairman of the two banks to look into the matter.

Meanwhile Cabinet Spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardana said the matter was not discussed in Cabinet, but hinted that the reason for their removal was that when customers went to the two banks to obtain the concessions announced by the Government under the special credit support scheme for eligible Small and Medium Enterprise borrowers, they were turned away.

“The Central Bank has laid down the guidelines for providing facilities to those in the SME sector who are heavily in debt, but these banks have not allowed them to avail themselves of these concessions,” he said. (CK)