Desamanya Dr. Lalith Kotelawala- a trail blazer

By Dr. Dayanath Jayasuriya President’s Counsel

I first came to know Lalith Kotelawala when in 2002 I became the founder Director-General of the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka. Soon after my appointment he invited me as the Guest of Honour at a Ceylinco Insurance Annual Sales Conference. Though born with the silver spoon in his mouth, he described the trials and tribulations he went through to reach the helm of Ceylinco Insurance which was part of the Ceylinco Consolidated Group.

I recall to this very day what he said happened to him when he returned from London and walked to his father’s office, the then Chairman of Ceylon Insurance. “My dear son, I have already decided the place for you. My assistant will take you there. For the next few months you will work in the generator room and learn everything you need to know. You start your career there on a probationary basis without leave and no pay. You may now go. When the time is ripe I will find a suitable chair and table for you.”

Speechless and heart-broken, he had no option but only the determination to do best in whatever he had to do. The audience- I guess over 500 employees- simply could not believe what they heard. During the coffee break he made it a point to speak to as many he could shaking hands, smiling and giving words of encouragement. During my subsequent tenure as Chairman of the Insurance Board and thereafter we became good friends. Of course, he sought no favours nor were any offered to him. He was very professional in his dealings and a gentleman par excellence endowed with the best of qualities. Humility, sincerity and compassion were some of the hallmarks.

During the tsunami, I remember him visiting me early morning at the World Trade Centre to inform me that if a policy-holder had no flood cover but the vehicle was damaged they would still honour the claim. By that time, a directive was being prepared to be issued calling upon other insurers to follow suit and even though a few foreign underwriters expressed concerns, I am pleased that the directive was never challenged in court.

One of his many outstanding achievements was to provide women in impoverished circumstances assistance to rebuild their live through self employment. One of the best quotes of Mother Teresa was:

“Go out into the world today and love the people you meet. Let your presence light new light in the hearts of people.”

The grass root level women’s movement ushered a new era of empowerment and certain politicians began to worry about Lalith’s political ambitions. He was later requested to develop export oriented zones in a particular district and he set about achieving the task with great energy and enthusiasm. On the death of a local militant Buddhist monk in a hospital in a foreign country, wild allegations were spread that possibly he had a role to play.

Besides expanding the flagship insurance business, Lalith took the initiative to venture into several areas that were mega projects such as Seylan Bank, Ceylinco Seylan Towers, Millennium City, and many other constructions of condominiums; a cancer detection and treatment centre; an eye, nose and ear hospital; and educational institutions such as ANC and ICBT as well as small scale projects such as constructing clean toilets on highways for insurance customers and providing jobs to the unemployed and regular allowances and meals to the needy.

He had a group of loyal and dedicated staff who steadfastly stood by him and this includes people like Mr. Ajith Gunawardene, Mr. R. Renganathan, Dr. Jagath Alwis, Mr. Nihal Peiris, Ms. Mala Sabaratnam and Mrs. Kotelawala- a renowned dancer in her younger days- was an able director in several companies.

On December 5, 2005 Mahinda Rajapakse directed all chairmen and board directors to tender their resignations with immediate effect even if our tenure of office was not due to expire soon. In my case I had to resign as Chairman of the SEC and Insurance Board and as a working director of the Public Utilities Commission and the National Procurement Agency. I had given up a lucrative UN job in Pakistan as the head of a UN agency to return to Sri Lanka to accept the office as Chairman of the SEC hardly 15 months previously at the request of Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike.

Lalith was the first among several friends who personally called me when we had to resign. I was quite touched when he told me that after my ‘cooling off’ period was over he would like to appoint me as a Director of Seylan Bank or as a consultant on Corporate Governance (CG) to the Ceylinco group of companies. A few months later I did a study of CG practices within the group and submitted a series of recommendations that Lalith readily accepted but implementation left much to be desired.

The collapse of Golden Key was not unpredictable. An empire he built with over 200 companies collapsed virtually overnight like a pack of cards. He did consult me and requested me to explore possibilities of a rescue package to protect the depositors with the help of funds provided by some Singaporean investors with whom I had good contacts during a stint of three years in Singapore training the staff of MAS and private bankers on compliance and anti money-laundering. One of his companies had to provide certain documents but these were not forthcoming for a bizarre reason.

I last met him the day before he was taken into custody, by which time the company claimed that it had misplaced the agreement to be signed. Later I came to know that there were internal concerns that commissions were not part of the package deal. Even though I tried to see him at Welikada Prisons, access was limited as permission had to be sought from a relative and I was told that enough and more lawyers were visiting him seeking to appear for him.

The relative promised to revert to me but never did so. My last impression of him was at his de Fonseka Place office wearing a bullet proof jacket and my last words to him were that his arrest is imminent but ‘come what may’ he would have sufficient courage and resilience that he had displayed throughout life to face what then seemed to be a long and uncertain future.

Lalith Kotelawala trusted too many and was oblivious to the fact that some of the trails he blazed were studded with pitfalls and mines. After having helped so many and done so much for the country, he paid a huge price at the end. But this does not detract from the fact that he was a good man with a vision and sincere in purpose.

May his soul rest in peace!