Lanka’s VIPs bust millions to watch movies, including porn, in New York

Whenever Sri Lankan delegates made their annual pilgrimage to the United Nations in September, they flew business class and were virtually armed with blank cheques.

No expenses were spared -- be it five-star luxury hotels, unlimited overseas calls, room service, laundry valet, late night refreshments, a fullystocked refrigerator and inroom movies.

Last week we revealed the whopping $436,498 hotel bill (equivalent of SL Rs. 47.3 million) left behind by our delegation during a 2006 visit to New York -- all paid for with public funds.

Since then, the Sunday Times had access to a new set of 31 invoices from the UN Millennium Plaza listing every single item charged to the hotel bill. Perhaps most revealing are charges for in-room movies, mostly pornography, at $18.37 each.

The most avid movie fan, who was charged for 11 movies, occupied room 3,520, the hotel guest being a minister from a minority party, followed by a lady official (charged for eight movies) and an MP (charged for six movies). All movies are piped in through cable TV.

The scores of overseas calls, along with internet charges, amounted to a hefty $11,645. The going phone rates in New York hotels are about 300 percent over and above cell phones -- which all of the delegates were in possession of. This generated a separate set of bills.

The presidential suite cost $2,300 a night. But the president had a clean bill of health -metaphorically speaking -with no extraneous charges. So were two ministers and an MP of the former regime. They were apparently too busy getting medical check-ups and had no time for movies.

The grand total for the delegation's 10-14 day visit to New York, including expenses relating to accommodation, hiring of vehicles, renting cell phones, meals, photography etc.) was US$ 436,498 - equivalent to a staggering SL rupees 47.3 million.