Smell of garlic

This is to request the President to give the severest of punishment to the culprits, the business crooks and the person/s responsible from Lanka Sathosa involved in the garlic scam and at the same time reward by giving an award (by organising an Award Ceremony for whistleblowers) to the whistle blower Executive Director of Consumer Affairs Authority of Sri Lanka Thusan Gunawardena. The government also should not allow him to resign from his post but grant him a promotion as he was bold enough to spill the beans. We need more people of his caliber and therefore, the Government should make it a practice to continue to give awards to whistleblowers so that it will encourage people to come forward and expose frauds taking place in any organisation. New legislation (if any) required should be passed to take drastic, punitive action against the wheeler-dealers.

I wish that lexicographers in their future editions include the phrase -smell (a) garlic which will be a Sri Lankan version of the well-known English idiom smell a rat.  The etymology for this idiomatic expression will be the Sathosa garlic scam/garlic- leaks!

Mohamed Zahran

Colombo