SL Airlines compelled to reveal trade secrets to Kuma Stickers

COLOMBO (News 1st) - It was revealed before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry that Sri Lankan Airlines was compelled to reveal their trade secrets to Kuma Stickers Pvt Ltd. The then Manager of Advertising informed the commission on Thursday (July 19th) that former CEO Kapila Chandrasena had instructed her to give all possible hoardings to Kuma Stickers Pvt Ltd for advertising irrespective of the fact that the supplier either had the right or not for the site. The witness noted, that despite getting a hoarding in Kandana at fairly lower rates compared to Kuma Stickers Pvt Ltd, the Management at SriLankan Airlines had instructed to stop the construction of the structure which had eventually led into a serious issue thereafter. The Group Internal Auditor testified that in an Audit carried out in 2013, they uncovered that no approvals had been obtained when selecting Kuma Stickers Pvt Ltd as the supplier. He added that there was no approval for the contracts given to Kuma Stickers Pvt Ltd and Vihanga Marketing & Advertising Services Private Limited to the contract value of over 108 Million Rupees. He also noted, that on one instance they came across an invoice from Vihanga Marketing & Advertising Services Private Limited using the letterhead of Kuma Stickers. In addition, he went on to state, that although there is an approved company procurement process, various departments follow the process according to their preferred ways - which had resulted in an issue in performing audits as well.