Massive fraud uncovered at Dehiwala zoo

A union attached to the National Zoological Gardens in Dehiwala, claiming themselves to be the "SLPP union", has scheduled to stage a protest today, saying that they are not getting a risk allowance of Rs. 5,000, sources said.

The Union have claimed half of the staff were getting the Rs. 5,000 allowance and the other half were getting half that amount. The so-called union members have decided to initiate a protest demanding the said allowances for all the staff members. The protest is to be staged during the lunch hour at the entrance to the Zoological Gardens.

Officials at the Zoo however said this SLPP union had personal agendas and was involved in a project to make organic fertiliser, which is said to be profitable. The National Zoological Gardens management had requested details regarding the organic fertiliser project and the management had also requested the union to come forth for a meeting with the documents they had.

However, the said union refused the request and had not provided any details about the project so far, officials added.

There was no written approval given to launch such a project and to continue it within the Dehiwala Zoological premises. But the union have claimed that it's former Director General had given verbal approval to implement the project.

However, the union said this project was part of a new welfare society they had set up for the Dehiwala Zoological gardens. 

Sources however said a legitimate welfare society had already been functioning within the gardens. Investigations conducted by the Zoological Gardens management found out that the document that provided evidence to establish the new welfare society was not signed by any of the Zoological Garden Board members.

The union had opened a bank account by giving a set of separate documents indicating that they had been permitted by the zoological authorities to form the union and welfare society with their consent. Accordingly, the said union had used receipts and bills of the legitimate welfare  organization and sold these fertilisers through this, officials alleged.

The raw materials for making of this organic fertiliser were extracted from the Dehiwala Zoological Gardens and reported to have been manufactured during their duty time, officials added. The manufactured fertiliser were packed in bags carrying the Zoological Garden's official logo without being permitted.

The sources claimed that if all raw materials were given by the Zoological Gardens, the revenue received after selling this organic fertiliser should have gone directly to the department's treasury, as it deemed to be the legitimate income earned through the raw materials extracted from the department.

The sources claimed that the union had informed the Zoological Gardens' management that they had opened a bank account and deposited all the revenue that came through this project. However, the bank records showed that their account had a deposit of Rs. 2,000 only. According to the bills and invoices, they have done a fairly good business and should have earned approximately Rs.80.000 without issuing receipts.

However, the Zoological Gardens management identified this activity as a fraud and conducted an internal audit. The sudden investigations conducted by the Zoological Garden informed the union that appropriate action would be taken against them, officials said.

The management also informed the union to hand over the revenue they have earned through this project to the zoological gardens' treasury, as they used to run the project with the raw materials extracted from the zoo. They also told the union that they would be allowed to run this project in a paroper manner as per the rules and regulations of the zoological gardens. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)