Duminda trying to be another Mervin Silva?

Petroleum workers yesterday accused Deputy Minister Duminda Dissanayake of following in the foot steps of non Cabinet Minister Mervyn Silva after the politician allegedly threatened a senior official for not paying his mobile phone bill.

A spokesman for the Ceylon Petroleum Common Service Union said: "had the government acted swiftly when Silva triggered chaos at SLRC late December, Dissanayake wouldn’t have dared to act in a similar way.

The union alleged that the Deputy Minister had stormed the CPC premises with a group of outsiders and threatened the Deputy Finance Manager. The union claimed the politician had grabbed the Deputy Finance Manager’s phone demanding that his phone bill should be paid in full.

The union expressed serious concern over the conduct of the politician. A spokesman said President Mahinda Rajapaksa should take disciplinary action against Dissanayake. "We will not tolerate such tactics," he said.

The union’s Convener D. J. Rajakaruna said the Deputy Minister wanted the CPC to settle his telephone bill amounting to Rs 500,000.

The Finance Division of the Corporation said that they wouldn’t pay phone bills other than the official phone bill. This decision was taken by the Board recently, the spokesman said, vowing they wouldn’t give into political pressure.

The Deputy Minister wasn’t available for comment.