1 January 2021 09:22 am
Former Sri Lankan cricketer turned businessman Muttiah Muralitharan has refuted claims that he was using influence or pressure to obtain preference to ship his products overseas.
Muralitharan is the Chairman and shareholder of Ceylon Beverage Can (Pvt) Ltd which exports aluminum cans to several countries.
The world record breaking spin bowler was yesterday accused of preventing a leading shipping company from releasing empty containers to other clients until he obtained containers he requires to ship his aluminum cans.
Allegations were made that in at least one instance he had prevented the local agents of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) from releasing 49 containers to other exporters until his requirement was met. When contacted by Daily Mirror Muralitharan said that his company exports around 4000-7000 containers with aluminum cans overseas a year. He said that some of his clients make forward bookings and make advanced payments for the containers.
“The containers available at MSC or any other shipping company are given to us based on the payment we make.that is normal.that is business. Someone may have attempted to get containers at the last minute and they couldn’t. That is not my fault. (EASWARAN RUTNAM)