Pramuka Bank depositors to start fresh struggle

By Yohan Perera

The depositors of failed Pramuka Bank are set to start a fresh campaign to gain their dues after a long silence.

Pramuka Bank Depositors Association President Palitha Gamage told Mirror Business that they have decided to take to the streets against the failure on the part of the government to pay the five percent interest which was promised to them after the bank was restarted after it was closed down by the Central Bank in 2002.

“Government promised to pay back our deposit money with five percent interest but had stopped paying it suddenly. They promised us to make the payment for five years and the last payment is due to us but it has not been paid yet,” he said. The state-run Sri Lanka Savings (SLS) Bank, which was the  new name given to Pramuka Bank, had given assurances in the year 2015 that it would pay Rs. 240 million to 8,200 Pramuka Bank depositors.

Meanwhile, Gamage charged that neither the present regime nor the past regime had paid proper attention to their grievances. 

“Foreign Ministry in 2006 stopped the Scotland Yard from apprehending former Pramuka Bank Chairman Rohan Perera despite calls for his arrest,” he said.

Pramuka Bank went into a crisis when the Bank Supervision Unit of Central Bank closed it down in 2002 due to improper practices and mismanagement, making its former Chairman Rohan Perera to flee the country.