Sri Lanka is a fascinating country and is well worth visiting for a holiday, if you visit for a short time you will be amazed by its beauty and how friendly the people you meet are. If you are only staying for a week or so you should go home with many happy memories, However there are many problems that befall those of us that choose to set up a holiday home or permanent residence and I want to tell these stories and hopefully save others from suffering similar fates. There is much to include in this journal.
I enjoyed my first holiday to Sri Lanka so much that I made a point of staying at the same resort for some of the time each time I revisited, (except for after the tsunami as the resort was severely damaged) I got to know some of the locals and became friendly with one family in particular. The man, who worked as a “beach boy” was always very good, took us on good trips etc and never let us down, I came to like and trust this family over and above other locals that I met. When I decide to have a go at “making a new life for myself” in Sri Lanka it was this family that I turned to for help, they had previously offered to help me in all aspects of living in Sri Lanka, besides, who else did I know and trust?? I was trapped then without even knowing it! Many people that choose to live in Sri Lanka also appoint a local “friend” that they trust, so many non nationals fall for this trick because very few are lucky enough to have knowledge of laws and language and know everything about the place, it is the circumstances that myself and others have found our selves tricked into that I write about.
I will be happy to hear from others who have suffered or are suffering problems here but I am not an Agony Aunt so will delete any inappropriate comments, I will gladly include genuine responses from those that have avoided problems, or those that can help and even from those that cause the problems.
First thing to remember is DO NOT TRUST SRI LANKANS IN GENERAL. most problems are caused by the trust that’s placed on these people being grossly abused. Many Sri Lankan’s don’t trust each other, lying and stealing is innate behaviour to many, however if you do slip unawares into a trap you will have to trust someone to help you, very difficult to find. 2nd thing to remember is INSIST THAT ALL PAPERWORK IS IN A LANGUAGE YOU UNDERSTAND. even at the risk of losing your trustee, if he is trustworthy he wont object. make sure it is fully completed before you sign and also make sure that you have the paperwork in your keeping as deeds etc can be changed.
I will start by summarising the problems I know of and what I know about the people who cause them, and although a separate issue I will also mention some of the tricks and cons played on us by beach boy / guides as these are the types of person that hope to become and often succeed in becoming your “trusted friend”
1, A relatively common problem (what happened to me) is the theft of land, it is made easy by the government who impose a 100% tax on non nationals buying land or property thereby encouraging people to use the help of a Sri Lankan “trusted friend” who is subject only to a 4% stamp duty. There is little and sometimes no help for victims of crime as Sri Lankan’s stick together, even the police will hope you give up and go home.
2, Very common is theft of personal property, once described to me as the “you have it, I want it” attitude.
3, Overcharging for everything, there is a two price system here especially in tourist areas, tourists and non nationals living in Sri Lanka are charged a lot extra, (tourist price) the attitude is that we are rich and therefore have to pay more. Non tourist areas and Muslim areas are far more likely to not overcharge, but the casual visitor is less likely to visit these areas as tour guides and the like will only take the tourist to places where the guide will get paid a commission. The attitude is to make as much as possible in as short a time as possible, the practice of fair pricing and ergo repeat custom from visitors barely exists as most people “go home” and do not revisit, I once paid 800 rupees (Rs800) for a haircut but later found a “Salon” that charged 75 rupees, needless to say I no longer use the hairdresser’s who charged Rs300 or Rs150 either.
3a, it is hardly surprising that the people of Sri Lanka consider it perfectly fair to charge tourists and visitors far more than necessary as the government of Sri Lanka does nothing to stop or discourage this custom, in fact it is fair to say that the government actually encourages this practice, as well as the 100% tax non nationals have to pay if purchasing property, anyone who does not have residency or citizenship has to pay as much as 20 times more to enter certain destinations or attractions. An example of this is the zoo in Dehiwala, Rs 50 for locals and Rs1000 for tourists, these fees are doubled on Poya days and National holidays,
4, Recriminations if you dare to complain.
5, It can be difficult for anyone to help if the person who needs help is under the “control” of a friend.
6, Who you employ, employing someone from another area can cause problems as can trying to change the person you employ be it a builder or a “guide / beach boy” (the latter will “own” you.) Also getting rid of or “sacking” someone for any reason can become another nightmare.
7, The people who cause problems are usually the beach boy, tuk tuk driver or guide that you meet, it is difficult to avoid these people as they can be very persistent, Many tourists complain about the “activities” of these people though it is often very beneficial to have the assistance of someone like this, not just those above mentioned people, but anyone (usually a man) will try to become your trusted friend.
It must be beyond the capabilities of the average “friend” to successfully accomplish the “con” without help, there must be a network of knowledge shared by these “friends”. Jim and Helen also had the deeds to their holiday property done in Sinhala, and like me found out they weren’t the legal owners, though our properties are over 40km apart their “friend” knew about my “friend”.
The object of this blog is to hopefully save at least one person from falling into well thought out, tried and tested traps, I am not writing an article on all that is good about Sri Lanka, if I was there would be much to say. Sri Lanka is a beautiful place, the flora and fauna are fascinating, the weather is always warm and the food is very enjoyable and there is always plenty of it. I believe that everyone should visit Sri Lanka for at least a holiday, but should they fall in love with the place and want to spend more time, then beware!
I would not have come to Sri Lanka had I not really liked everything about the place, it is the circumstances that myself and others have found our selves tricked into that I write about.
Just above I have written “do not trust Sri Lankan’s in general” this is because the people responsible for causing much misery are most likely to be the people you first meet when holidaying or visiting, (you like them, you trust them) its only when you have been in the country for some time that you learn of or meet trustworthy people who will genuinely help you, but to start with take my advice and don’t trust. If you are fortunate enough to know all the rules and regulations and know enough good people to make coming to Sri Lanka an easy, trouble free experience you will not need “local help” and will not need to read more.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
True Stories
some of my story
I first came to Sri Lanka in 2003 and visited 4 other times before moving in March 2008
In January 2008 I came to Sri Lanka with my step daughter and her 2 children, The idea was that Saman, his wife and daughter would also be with us for the first week at an inland hotel, The wife and daughter could not come due (I was told) to the daughter starting school, (I was unaware that my step daughter and Saman started an affair during this holiday, this “affair” was to have an influence on later events)
Satisfied by my desire to live in Sri Lanka and feeling confident I could trust this family I set about fulfilling the legal aspects of moving here and again 100% trusted Saman to help, I was not financially as well off as many, I only had the balance from the sale of my house in England, I was delighted to find out that I could initially stay here on a 1 year visa on medical reasons, and such a visa meant I did not need to fulfil the financial requirements of having a regular income from UK, (as with nearly everything else this also turned out to be untrue,) buying land with a Sri national is a method used by many to lower the amount of tax payable on land purchases, I was buying 460 perch of cinnamon land, this was to help provide me with an income, (a survey search later found this land to be 471 perch but due to the moving of a road only 435 perch is cinnamon, the balance being rice paddy on the other side of the road, this has been worked by others for many years and will not be worth reclaiming) I was assured that I was buying the land in accordance with the Sri Lankan law and there was a lawyer present when I paid over the money, The land was to be shared 60% to me, 40% to Saman, I paid a total of 6.7 million for the land, tax and fees, the land value is 4 million, I signed the deeds with Saman believing I was signing as the major share holder, and handed all the money to the seller as I was told the money would be “sorted out” later, I also paid 775,000 Rs in “lawyers fees” as the lawyer would do all relevant paperwork, I then left with Saman, I later discovered that I was tricked into signing the deeds as a witness, and that Saman’s wife was the official owner, the original owner claims he received 5.5 million and the other money has vanished,
At this time I did not know many people in Sri Lanka and fell under the control of the family, As I was living in their home it was difficult to seek alternative advice as all my actions were watched, (I discovered later that Saman was opening my mail and knew exactly how much money I had) On occasions when I did question events or the price of materials, Saman would become quite indignant saying “why you not trust me? I am your friend, you help us after tsunami, now we help you” or similar, (see tsunami story below)
Again with Saman’s assistance I had a house built, (I was overcharged on all items and labour) the idea being for me to live downstairs with 2 guest rooms above in order to provide further income, Whilst the house was being built I became aware that all was not how it seemed, indeed Saman’s wife was paying particular attention to proceedings and was once overheard saying “her house” I was still living at Saman’s house but was getting to know other people and meeting fellow Europeans, Saman did not appear to like this stating that he was my friend and would take care of me, Whilst I was at Saman’s house, property of mine went missing, this included 2 mobile phones, a watch of sentimental value and money, the blame for this was placed on the wife’s younger brother who would go in my room to use my laptop, (I also had other items stolen during this time) I was told that he admitted taking the phones and money but he denied that he took the watch.
Also during this period I purchased a Three wheeler vehicle this was to ensure that I had transport when I needed to go any distance, I admit that I gifted this to Saman, I purchased a Scooty motor scooter for myself but in order to get insurance etc it was purchased in Saman’s name, at no point have I said the scooter was a gift to Saman, also I “loaned” Saman 1.6 million rupees, I was suspicious of his need for this but he arrived with a jeep type vehicle and said we were purchasing it, (I later found out he had gambled and lost the money and the jeep was never his) Living in his house and his relationship with my stepdaughter made it very difficult to refuse the “loans” A short while before the loans were made my stepdaughter and her children again came to Sri Lanka, Saman was with her most of the time and took her to Yala where he had arranged for the two of them to get married, My stepdaughter was very embarrassed by the arrangements that had been made, they then stayed at another hotel near to where I was and Saman’s promise that he was paying the bill was again untrue and in order that my stepdaughter could leave to return to UK I had to pay the bill of Rs200,000
Eventually the downstairs of the house was finished and I purchased furniture and electrical items for the entire house, i.e. 3 TVs, being 1 for me and 1 for each guest room, some of this was and is stored at the wife’s parents home a kilometre away, I moved in during October 2008 and though reasonably happy felt quite lonely as the house was isolated and I had no company,
I had met the lady I married at a friends party some time earlier and married her on Feb 21st 2009, I did not tell Saman about getting married until a week before, he was not happy and said I should abandon the lady saying he knew her family and she was married many times before, he also said he would find me a wife, The wedding went ahead at Gordon's guest house/wedding hall and my wife and I returned to my house, it was here that Saman and his wife came and showed the deeds proving the land (and house) was theirs, Naturally very upset my wife would not stay at “my” house and we returned to the guest house, the following day I returned to “my” house with Gordon and 3 of my wife’s friends to collect belongings that had been left behind in our haste to leave, Saman arrived along with his father in law and others, the father in law assaulted Gordon, and Saman who claimed to have a pistol ordered everyone but me to leave, I admit to being very frightened by the violence and gun threat, the reasons for the violence and the father in laws involvement is now obvious as all there plans to cheat me were in disarray, I did also leave later that day, I returned a few times to remove clothing etc and stayed on a few nights but I was very nervous of being there alone and eventually left, as it turns out for good, (Saman and his family now occupy the house) I had locked all the rooms in the house but Saman had a key to the front door so could access all rooms except my bedroom as I had all the keys, there was an expensive home cinema system in the bedroom that belonged to a Swiss man (who is soon to be another of Saman’s victims,)
I went by mini bus to a party with my wife and 6 friends, someone must have seen me there and told Saman as he, his wife’s family and others turned up and surrounded the house, they were demanding that I gave them the bedroom door key, most of the other guests managed to leave, the police were called but arrived 1 ½ hours after the incident was over, We waited until we thought it was save to leave but the mini bus was halted by Saman who appeared to have a gun, luckily the parties host had provided us with an escort of 7 men and Saman was pushed to the ground, our exit north was blocked by other 3 wheelers and the drivers also appeared armed, the Sri Lankan mini bus driver was very frightened so we went south and were later “saved” by a monk who took us to our homes in a different mini bus, there have been entries (complaints) made at the local police station regarding the incident but nothing was ever done, Saman brags these police officers are his friends and that certainly does seem to be the case,
I have complained about Saman’s actions and the theft of my property, the CID are investigating and Saman is currently on bail awaiting a High Court trial, he has been charged with “fraud” however despite the assurances of the CID, police and lawyers that I can recover my furniture, electrical and personal items I have been unable to,
I now have dates and case numbers for both the criminal and civil cases, they will both be in March 2010, and luckely the criminal case is heard first.
Added on 18th Feb 2010.
I have been told on Feb 14th 2010 by a very reliable person that Saman has had a visit from the CID and they told him he has nothing to fear from the imminent criminal court case (March 15th 2010) as the deeds are in his wife’s name and therefore he should show up at court. I am hoping this is just a ruse by the CID to ensure he does show up. It seems strange that they would let things get to this stage and then hand Saman a “get out of jail FREE card” I have been trying to speak to the CID Inspector but he seems to be in meetings or unavailable, this could be true as there are still “goings on” following the recent Presidential elections, if however the CID do intend to help Saman then I think it will be a case of collusion and I will need to pursue that line, my lawyer however seems totally unperturbed by this alleged CID / Saman meeting saying if Saman does not show up in court then he does not get to state his defence,
Though I have changed my phone number I still check the old number, I have set up ALERT which lists all missed calls including multiple calls from one caller, and strange to say there were 7 missed calls from Saman’s wife’s number on the 13th Feb, one day before I heard the information about the CID.
Saman of course is now all “cock-a-hoop” and bragging that he will walk free from court, I just pray that he’s wrong,
Many of the non nationals I know are very supportive in as much as they wish me well but most seem to be very negative or pessimistic regarding the legal system here in Sri Lanka, most have experienced failure with seeking justice and some still have legal cases going on and their attitude towards me and my case is that not only will I be lucky to achieve even a partial win but I will be lucky if anything is resolved in the next 10 years, this of course fills me with despondency, I just hope they are wrong in my case but their attitude is a true refection of how difficult non nationals find it to get any satisfactory help from the Sri Lankan legal system. Howard’s problem was in 2006 and apparently someone (not Howard) got seriously hurt and another person was charged with attempted murder and to date this is still unresolved, another non national was telling me of a rape which happened in 2005 that has still not been dealt with by the courts, I have been told that the waiting list for cases to get to court is over 12 years but as I have managed to progress from making the complaint to having a court date for both cases in less than 9 months I find it hard to believe. It could be that the 2 cases I was told about directly involve only Sri Lankan’s and / or are being dealt with by local courts rather than High Court,
Added on 25th Feb.2010
I spoke with the CID who neither confirmed or denied talking to Saman, they did however say that “Saman was in serious trouble”. I believed all along that High Court cases were serious but listening to European friends can be very disheartening as most of them are very cynical of the Sri Lankan legal system, so I looked up various internet pages on the Sri Lankan legal system and indeed the High Court is serious and sentences meted out are likely to be severe, earlier the CID had said to me that the case was going to the High Court as the Magistrates Court could not had out the appropriate sentence, I discovered that the maximum fine the magistrates can impose is Rs 1.500.00 which is equal to about £7.50 but this seems to be nonsense balanced against the maximum jail sentence of 2 years simple or rigorous imprisonment, the commas or dots that separate amounts are often misplaced here and 1.500.00 could be 150.000. (£750) as cents are not always included, I will find out and amend this later. I am hoping that Saman’s bragging is tenuous to say the least, I have also E mailed the President, Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa highlighting the crimes by beach boys against visitors, I am very sceptical about whether any action will be taken if indeed any interest will be shown as when I visited the British High Commission on the 24th of Feb I was told that they knew of numerous other cases like mine where land and houses have been stolen,
This is only a summary of events but mentions most major issues,
I should add that I have now heard of other similar cases to mine and that I am receiving much support,
Tsunami.
I left Sri Lanka on the 7th of Dec 2004, less than 3 weeks before the tsunami, my now ex wife and I were very concerned about the people we had recently left, many fruitless calls were made to various establishments around the area where my “friends” were living, we really were very worried and anxious, then a (late) Christmas card arrived from my “friend” I found it very upsetting as I never knew whether he was alive, injured or dead, or how his family had fared. It was sometime later that a call was received from the “friend” explaining that the family was OK but they needed help, I did manage to send some money to them. Due to tsunami damage we were not able to stay at our favourite resort during June 2005 but were able to stay about 10km away and visit our friends, of course everyone was telling their tsunami stories, some true and some pure fabrication. Amongst the true stories we were very sorry to find out that some of the resort staff had lost their life’s that fateful day, we visited some of the camps that were everywhere in the costal regions but it was impossible to do much, the few luxuries and the sweets we bought with us were soon gone. My friend showed us his house that had been rebuilt with the help of donated materials and the labours of an Australian Aborigine aid volunteer, we returned to the UK a little while later having given the “friend” some more money to help towards his new roof, to prove what nice people the family were they used some of the money to make up over 100 food packets that were taken to one of the camps, Prior to the tsunami I had intended to holiday in Sri Lanka whenever I could so I had left items of fishing tackle and clothing at the Lakmal house for my use on later visits, The Lakmal family were honest enough to admit that their house had not suffered tsunami damage and said that they ran further inland for fear of another big wave, It was whilst they were away from the house that someone went in and stole my belongings, in 2005 I was happy to believe that was true but now I have big doubts as by coincidence all the new fishing tackle that I bought to Sri Lanka in 2007 was stolen during a “break in” at my friends restored home. Strange that!!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Electricity and three wheelers
Another stolen Tuk Tuk.
Renting accommodation is a very good option instead of buying, even so Carl had his share of problems before marrying a Sri Lankan lady and having a house built, as with others Carl bought a Three Wheeler (tuk tuk) for his “friend” to use, on condition that the “friend” helped Carl get around before he had his own car, after a while the “friend” became less available for Carls trips so the return of the three wheeler was asked for, needless to say in the inevitable dispute that followed Carl was told that the papers for the three wheeler were not in Carls name, fear of *recrimination and lengthy legal procedure led Carl to concede. There are still problems for Carl now but these are more to do with his wife’s family and land disputes, (on my many visits to police stations and lawyer offices I saw many local people with land deeds so assume the deeds were in dispute somehow) land disputes must take up a lot of police and court time here.
Electricity.
Roger is 65 he met his Sri Lankan wife Ajantha when they both worked in Bournemouth many years ago, Ajantha is older than him and had lived most of her life in the UK. Having a Sri Lankan husband or wife can be beneficial but Ajantha had been in the UK for so long that even when she spoke in Sinhala the locals knew she was no longer “one of them” and consequently she was subjected to paying the higher prices (tourist price) Roger and Ajantha bought a house north of Galle and employed a live in driver / general help who is very good and still with them today, he was able to shop for them and get local prices. Their problem was that the house and associated bills were in an English surname and the Electricity bill was ridiculously high and unaffordable, they battled to get the bills reduced and the meter altered but to no avail, (**the meter showed that they were using an incredible amount of power) the bills kept coming and with each bill the balance owing got larger, both Roger and Ajantha were getting desperate so they decided to sell the house and leave the debt behind with the attitude of “if the Electric company wants its money it can take us to court, that way we might get notice taken of our problem”. Roger and Ajantha have sold the house and are living a nice affordable life in rented accommodation, the new electricity bill is average and in a Sri name (her maiden name) so no problems there and the big bill they left behind has been forgotten about.
If you’re a native of Sri Lanka you can leave your bills for up to 90 days without paying or paying just a little, but you must pay at least one of them just after the 90 days. **electricity goes up in price the more you use, the average user will be paying the low tariff, after so many more unit’s are used the price for all units is increased, and then again for a third time, so beware especially if you have a non Sri Lankan name on the bill,
I am now (28th Jan 2010) paying 1/2 the elecftricity bill at the house I'm sharing, yet paying more than at the bungalow, at the bungalow we regularily used the washing machine, always the electric kettle and often used the A/C for short periods, I have just found out that the reason the bungalow has cheaper electricity is because someone in a fairly high position in the Electric Company was paid a backhander to "fix it", exactly how I do not know
Unfortunately it is events like this that make using a “friends” name seem like a good idea but using the wrong “friend” can have disastrous results,
When Roger and Ajantha left they had to temporarily leave items behind as the rented property was somewhat smaller, the house was put in the care (with the items) of a local man who they believed could be trusted until the new owners took over, in this time many of the items went missing, mostly ladies shoes and clothing. it’s a story that is repeated time after time and will continue no matter how careful we think we are being!
More about Electricity bills that might be repeated in Gordon’s story. Gordon had a guest house comprising of 3 buildings, each had a separate bill but all meters were read on the same day, and as is the custom here the bills were handed to the householder on the same day, Gordon would always pay his bills the very next day, 2 or 3 days later a lorry with a work crew would arrive to cut the power off for non payment, Gordon would have to go through the procedure of proving the bills were paid before the work crew would leave, this happened with every set of bills for many years, eventually Gordon sold his properties to a wealthy Sri Lankan man and 3 days after the meters were next read no work crew showed up, in fact no crew showed up when the bills weren’t paid 30 days later, . One rule for them, and a different rule for us!
I have recently found an agreement re electricity supply, I will add correct information soon.
It is worth mentioning that the system in Sri Lanka is deliberately anti non national, selling alcohol requires a licence, Sri Lankan’s can get the licence but non nationals who have guest houses or businesses such as restaurants find it almost impossible, (of course the licence could be got in a “friends” name, but this is what causes bigger problems) A European who sold beer without a liquor licence had all his beer, wine and spirits confiscated by local police, it then “vanished”. later his business was sold to a Sri Lankan who continued to sell alcohol without a licence, and without any problems.
A bit about Police and lawyers.
*As well as threats a Sri Lankan can make an entry (complaint) at a police station accusing you of anything, if the complaint is serious enough there is a good chance of getting you thrown out of the country, this was done (so I was told) to a German man who was told that he would be reported for “interfering with the little girl in the family” if he did not do as his “friend” wanted. You can imagine his dilemma!, he eventually returned to Germany.
Everyone has the right to make an entry if they feel there has been an injustice, I know from experience that it is very difficult for non nationals to do, first there is (most likely) a language difficulty as not many local police officers have a good knowledge of English (let alone other languages) so you will need a translator, you need to be sure that they say what you want said and not what they think is best said, (though a mix of both may be better) you will also need to get a written translation of the “entry” for your own reference, there is little chance of your complaint being taken seriously especially if the person you complain about is friendly with the local police (in “my story” local police showed up to an incident 1 ½ hours after it was over, locals told me that my “friend” told the police what they would be doing) after all we are the foreigners, its your “friends” country!
I later found out that if it is necessary to make an “entry” then it is better to take a lawyer with you as the police take notice then, the lawyer should be on your side, but his / her services will not be free and selecting the right lawyer can also be a pain, below is a copy of an Email from a friend who was / is helping me with my problem. All I can do is direct you to a good, fair and honest lawyer I have been using in Galle Fort. When I first thought of the idea of buying a property, I was directed to a group of lawyers in Colombo 07 (I have friends who live in ??????? Place and have a large property there). The lawyer I chose happened to have had a great grandfather who was Irish (I am Irish) and when I asked him for the name of a good lawyer in the Galle area he said he couldn't recommend one as they were all "crooked"......however, he thought for a moment and remembered speaking on the phone to a woman lawyer he felt might be reliable and honest. She is, in fact, fantastic......efficient, honest, charges what she charges Sri Lankans. She did so much work for me, I questioned her as to how it worked out so cheap and she made that response...."I charge you what I charge Sri Lankans".
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
I believe there was a gun
Gordon and a bit more.
Some of us have more problems than others and Gordon had his share. I have mentioned the problem Gordon had with Electricity bills but there were others he told me about (land and 3 wheeler) and I was present when he was attacked by Lalith Lakmal.
The day after my wedding I returned to my house to collect some items that had been left there by my wife’s family, because of the previous days events with the deeds I also wanted to see the deeds, I went there with a male relative of my wife, his friend, a driver, and Gordon in a mini bus, the driver stayed in the vehicle whilst the relative and friend sat indoors, Gordon and myself were outside, we had already loaded the items to take away when Saman arrived with a copy of the deeds. Shortly afterwards Lalith Lakmal (Saman’s father in law) arrived and immediately launched a verbal assault on Gordon, he got very close to Gordon and was shouting and waving his arms about, he started to leave but returned and actually took hold of Gordon and started hitting him and ordering to leave, Saman joined in and was “patting” his back pocket saying he had a gun, at about the same time Saman became aware that there were others around and ordered the two who were in the house to get in the mini bus, Gordon was also manhandled into the mini bus, Gordon was very shook up by this attack especially as at the time it seemed motiveless, I was unable to help Gordon as Saman had told me to stay where I was, reminding me that he was armed, I tried to get on the minibus but was held back, Lalith was telling the driver to go, (he was doing his best to wait for me) and they eventually left under threat of being shot by Saman. I was very frightened by all this and by being “alone” but once the minibus left Saman and his father in law acted as though nothing had really happened, during the commotion Eranga showed up at the bottom of the drive, he seemed delighted by the events, perhaps because I had previously banned him from the property. Saman then assured me that I was safe and no harm would come to me, I asked him if he did have a gun as none of us had seen it, he replied that he had a pistol and again tapped his back pocket. Lalith had left and a while later Saman left, I waited a while and gathered some items of clothing, just before I left Gordon phoned to check if I was OK.
The reason for the attack must have been, “The con trick was going nicely to plan and the family could have had me kicked out of the country at any time for visa violations” Saman had assured me that if I kept my head down and lived a quite life no one would know I was there and I would not need a visa, (my dodgy visa had already expired) I think he was making sure I had absolutely no money left before getting me kicked out, he was opening my bank statements so knew my financial situation, ironic that his ultimate greed could be his downfall, However getting married saved me from being deported as I automatically qualified for a spouses visa. Now I knew about the deeds being made out in Saman’s wife’s name and had a legitimate visa the family must have realised their well made plan was going badly wrong, they had lost their control over me and they knew I would fight back, Lalith had found out that Gordon had played a major part in me getting married and was blaming Gordon because his daughter probably would not get “her new house” easily, though I later visited the house and she was proudly showing friends round.
When Gordon bought his land there were 2 other small areas of land at separate but nearby locations, Gordon had the deeds for the large area of land where he built his properties but had difficulty getting the deeds for the 2 small areas, after quite a time had passed Gordon found out that the deeds for these areas had been put in a different name, sadly as is often the case it was not really worth the expense, trouble and lengthy legal battle to get the land returned to him, had there been houses on the land then it would have been different, There are lawyers involved in land deed changes and they are aware of what is going on, they rely on the difficulties that non nationals will encounter in the legal system. They too seem to believe that all Europeans are so rich they can afford to be robbed, the same person who cheated Gordon out of the 2 small areas of land also took the three wheeler that Gordon had bought, I’m not too sure how the three wheeler was purchased or in whose name as Gordon has returned to Europe. All Gordon’s losses can be put down to trusting the wrong people!
Frank also lost land, his “dream” was to have a nice house and swimming pool, he bought the land but as work progressed he realised he would not be able to afford the pool, when he later visited the property to check on progress the walls surrounding the property were built and he could not help but notice that his garden area was much smaller than it should be, he was told that as he was not having a pool he would not need the extra land, finances then dictated that Frank gave up on his dream and he sold the property and returned to the UK, He later returned to live with his wife in a “family” house with her relatives but so many things went missing that he decided to return to the UK for good.
Paul and Wendy are able to financially weather storms better than many but have had their share of being overcharged in the past, Paul had purchased enough blocks to build a wall around his new property and went to see how the walls were progressing to discover that as well as no walls there were no blocks, however some of the neighbours had nice new walls,
Buying land can be fraught with difficulties, In my case I was happy enough with what I paid for my land, and quite happy to pay for a JCB to clear and level the land, in fact I was amazed that it cost so little seeing as a small fleet of lorries were taking away the surplus soil, later I found out that I should have paid nothing for the work as the soil is actually purchased at X amount per lorry load, Simon bought some land but his Sri Lankan wife is the true owner, she got the land at the right (local) price and needed to only pay stamp duty, the land was on a steep hillside and has been levelled ready for building, there was so much soil removed that Simon almost got his money back .The land each side of Simons land is also for sale the plot on the right being half as big again, ergo it should cost halve as much again but no, a European is buying it and is paying 5 times more per perch of land.
Monday, November 16, 2009
more property problems
There are people I’ve met that have had problems which we have not discussed so I can not relate their story, some people have either reached a closure or put the problem behind them and do not want reminding of what happened, some even fear recrimination should the “offender” find out that his crime is being “exposed” ? or discussed, some of these people end up living behind high walls and interact very little with the local population
Mark is the only person I know who wont admit to having any major problems either past or present (his problem apparently lies in the future). He bought a relatively modern property that needed no significant work and thus avoided the builder pitfall, however he did not want to pay the excessive government tax and bought with the help of a Sri Lankan friend, I am unsure of the full story as Mark will no longer talk about it but I understand that he will suffer a big problem if he wants to sell the property. He is also in the position where he dare not fallout with or have cross words with the “friend”. Mark lives a good life here but is another example of how we become unknowingly trapped.
Edward and his wife Jackie are now retired and have a very nice waterside home, in the UK they were both involved in different aspects of the legal system and this probably stood them in good staid when it came to dealing with people, however no matter how suspicious you are of others or their motives you can still get caught out, in their case they fell foul of poor workmanship and had to have their swimming pool completely rebuilt, the original “builder” did a disappearing trick so there was no chance of getting him to do the job again at his own expense, another contractor had to be found and paid. Edward is still very bitter about this but compared to many it could be said that they got of lightly,
Garth and Wendy also have a waterside home (without a pool) and apart from the usual inflated tourist price that had to be paid for materials and labour they have had very few problems with this house, mainly because of lessons learned in the past! as not too long before this house was completed Garth and Wendy had had another property built that was a show house for how bad things can be, whereas the UK tends to over regulate on everything there are no building regulations as such in Sri Lanka (there maybe regulations for large buildings and the like, but houses can “just be built”) the property was so bad that the couple could not live in it, again the original contractors disappeared and rather than throw good money after bad Garth and Wendy bought the waterside plot their new house is now on. It would have taken a very long time to find the original contractors, if indeed they could be found and impossible to get the house rebuilt by them, civil action would go on for years should it get that far, Being “better off” than many Garth and Wendy were able to shoulder their losses, a very expensive exercise nevertheless. At least they still own the land that the first house was built on.
Make sure you know all about your contractors, get official contracts that cover everything, involve a lawyer, it may cost a bit to get started but starting in the correct way can safe a lot of money, hard work, and heartbreak
Mark is the only person I know who wont admit to having any major problems either past or present (his problem apparently lies in the future). He bought a relatively modern property that needed no significant work and thus avoided the builder pitfall, however he did not want to pay the excessive government tax and bought with the help of a Sri Lankan friend, I am unsure of the full story as Mark will no longer talk about it but I understand that he will suffer a big problem if he wants to sell the property. He is also in the position where he dare not fallout with or have cross words with the “friend”. Mark lives a good life here but is another example of how we become unknowingly trapped.
Edward and his wife Jackie are now retired and have a very nice waterside home, in the UK they were both involved in different aspects of the legal system and this probably stood them in good staid when it came to dealing with people, however no matter how suspicious you are of others or their motives you can still get caught out, in their case they fell foul of poor workmanship and had to have their swimming pool completely rebuilt, the original “builder” did a disappearing trick so there was no chance of getting him to do the job again at his own expense, another contractor had to be found and paid. Edward is still very bitter about this but compared to many it could be said that they got of lightly,
Garth and Wendy also have a waterside home (without a pool) and apart from the usual inflated tourist price that had to be paid for materials and labour they have had very few problems with this house, mainly because of lessons learned in the past! as not too long before this house was completed Garth and Wendy had had another property built that was a show house for how bad things can be, whereas the UK tends to over regulate on everything there are no building regulations as such in Sri Lanka (there maybe regulations for large buildings and the like, but houses can “just be built”) the property was so bad that the couple could not live in it, again the original contractors disappeared and rather than throw good money after bad Garth and Wendy bought the waterside plot their new house is now on. It would have taken a very long time to find the original contractors, if indeed they could be found and impossible to get the house rebuilt by them, civil action would go on for years should it get that far, Being “better off” than many Garth and Wendy were able to shoulder their losses, a very expensive exercise nevertheless. At least they still own the land that the first house was built on.
Make sure you know all about your contractors, get official contracts that cover everything, involve a lawyer, it may cost a bit to get started but starting in the correct way can safe a lot of money, hard work, and heartbreak
Sunday, November 15, 2009
I'm not the only one to have property stolen
I met Steve and Kath when they were staying at a nearby beach resort, they were interested in the house that I was having built as they had bought an older house near the beach about 20 miles away and were having it restored for use as a holiday home, we kept in touch via E mail when they were in the UK and tried to meet up when they were visiting Sri Lanka, as my problem unfolded I told them what was happening to me, they were quite sure that they were OK as their friend would never cheat them, but needless to say he did cheat and now they too have a house that is in another persons name and their legal battle will be getting underway soon, another problem for them is that they are not resident in Sri Lanka and will have difficulty conducting their case from the UK, However I have been able to give them details of who might be able to help etc, saving them a lot of time and effort, as theirs is another ongoing situation I shall update this as and when I get new information.
When I was trying to find a lawyer I could trust I met one who seemed to be good and whilst talking to him he told me of a court case that had just finished where another English couple had been cheated out of their holiday home, the man responsible was a tuk tuk driver that they had met, befriended and trusted, (as previously mentioned the perpetrators of this type of crime is all too often the beach boy, tuk tuk driver or guide that we all meet when on holiday) luckily this couple did get their property returned to them, as this all happened in a different area and jurisdiction I can only hope that I too am lucky
There is another couple that I have heard of who employed a “watcher” to look after their holiday home, unfortunately he came from a village a few miles away and this was resented by locals who told the couple that a local man should be employed, they were happy with their choice of watcher as he had been honest and good, and said they would keep him in their employ, the house was then burgled apparently when the couple were in residence, all were watching TV when someone entered the back of the house, (someone making a point?) refusing to give in to the locals the couple still employed their choice of watcher. When they were back in the UK the house was fire bombed and destroyed. I do not know how true this is but, knowing what I do now its believable.
Luke has a beautiful beach side residence, everything was done 100% above board and the correct building permission was obtained for beach side buildings, (needed now because of tsunami fears) Luke is very insistent with his workers and takes no nonsense and this has worked well for him, his wife Elaine is also very firm, perhaps a result of being an employer in the UK, even so both admit that work they had done was charged at a higher “tourist” rate but we all have to accept this, pay up or no work. There were the inevitable problems with poor work and a lot of time was spent chasing the workers to do a proper job, despite their efforts the roof leaked very badly and needed to be redone. There was much minor remedial work required to get the house finished to the standard required. Luke and Elaine do not stay at the house for a full 12 months every year, some time is spent visiting relatives in Europe, they employ a live-in caretaker/helper as well as other staff, most only work when Luke and Elaine are there but the pool is maintained 365 days a year. The staff were left with instructions that the only people who could use the pool were staff and their children, (as there were not that many) of course this was abused and locals were let in for a swim. I believe that this or something similar has recently happened again.
Howard and Ruth have a very unique house inland, and also need to employ various staff, they too went away to visit relatives and returned earlier than expected, the house was in a very bad state, there were people all over the house, (4 floors) and all the stock of beer and spirits had been drunk or taken, needless to say the staff were dismissed, it is just another example of how difficult it is to find people that are genuinely trustworthy.
Barry is 77 years old, he bought a house a few hundred metres in land, he did the right thing and paid his government taxes in full and he is the undisputed owner of the land. Barry was at first concerned about very shoddy renovation work to floors and subsequent inspection proved that the work was very bad, Barry had paid 3 times more for bad floors than he should have paid for good ones. Naturally very upset Barry at first sought legal advice and was lucky enough to find what we believe to be an honest lawyer, she advised Barry that it would be a waste of his time and money pursuing a civil action as not only would the “contractor” delay proceedings for possibly years, but Barry would lose anyway. Barry tried to employ another contractor but this man was threatened and told never to return. Other work that Barry has paid for has not been done, the “friend” employed to look after the house in Barry’s absence has been stealing items from the house, once again this person was someone trusted. Barry did not want to believe that the people he trusted were stealing from him so he would put a little pile of rice on the floor of a room that no one should go in, close the door and then go out shopping or the like, sure enough on his return he would find the rice pile had been disturbed.
Work has been paid for in advance and it has not been done, despite the fact that Barry has paid “tourist price” for this work more money is still being asked for,
All workers ask for a deposit before they start work (they think we might get them to do the work and then not pay) and will ask for more as the work progresses, if you really are in control then you will manage to get the work done and finished properly before making the last payment, but sadly it rarely goes that way for non nationals, you might hold the money but the workers hold the Aces, after all if the workers want more money and refuse to carry on what can you do?
Barry’s problems are ongoing as of posting this,
Barry has decided not to take legal action and cut his losses, now a bit wiser and a bit poorer he will continue with the restoration work and will try to call the shots by insisting that only the work he wants doing is done, its done to suit his finances and when he wants it done. I speak to Barry quite regularly and will continue to update his progress and problems.
Update, Barry is trying to get a legal agreement with his contractor to either return most of the monies that have been paid or a time scale for completing the work, so far the contractor is still failing to start work on the days he promises to, as to whether he will meet Barry at the solicitors office is anybodies guess. (my guess is he will not show up)
Added on 06/02/2010
A Bit About Bills
Barry thought his problems were almost over when he employed new people (father and son) to look after his property and be his helpers, unfortunately the son could not resist the temptation of taking Barry’s wallet even though it contained less money than he could earn from Barry in a week, now the son has lost his job, The average Sri Lankan does not seem to have the ability to see ahead, it really is a case of enjoy today as tomorrow never comes. Barry has now got his original contractor to agree that he will supply the materials that Barry has paid for, but it seems unlikely that any work will be done even though that has been paid for as well, I must admit that I am very pessimistic that Barry will get any materials let alone all the materials as the money will have been spent. This trusted person was also responsible for paying Barry’s bills but of course Barry found out he was paying over 6 times more than he should have been, now Barry is not going to pay any more bill money to this trusted person and will let his TV contract (in trustees name) run until it is cut off, the bills of course will go to the trustee, Barry has been told that the trustee will be arrested after 3 final demands have been ignored,
In my case we were at the stage where I had left the house aware of the families evil deeds, I to (to save money lol) had put bills in Saman’s name, in this case it was the mobile internet connection I was using, even though they had stolen everything from me, at one of our meetings to reach a settlement Saman actually had the nerve to bring the unpaid bill to me expecting me to pay it.
Added on 10th Feb 2010
Only today I heard from Barry who wrote to the chief of the Tourist Police complaining about the actions of his contractor, the letter was passed on to the Hikkaduwa Station and an officer was sent to speak with Barry, this was to discuss any action that was to be taken, it would appear that this officer once held a high position in the Tourist Police and claims that in his time there he dealt with many complaints from tourists regarding crimes committed against them, he estimated there was an average of 5 complaints every day, this confirms that this type of problem has a well known and documented record, yet very little if anything has been done to discourage people from committing these crimes and the process of reporting crime and having action taken against the perpetrators is still very difficult, this indicates to me that the government has absolutely no interest in problems suffered by non nationals and probably no intention of implementing change, perhaps a large reduction in visitors and the loss of the valued tourist $ will change this.
For people like Barry and myself who came to Sri Lanka alone it is too easy to fall into a trap by trusting people, not knowing any fellow Europeans (until too late) and having no one to talk things over with leads you straight into their trap, I’m calling it a trap because it is very difficult to get away from though I hope Barry manages to.
Added on 18th Feb 2010.
Barry is still having problems with the various people he has befriended or employed, now a picture of great sentimental value has gone missing, Barry is sure he knows who stole the picture but as the Tourist Police Inspector who is “helping him” pointed out, it is not enough knowing who took or stole something, you need proof that they took it, the man in question is quite cocky about it all safe in the knowledge he will get away with it and that it will cost Barry a lot of money to pursue the matter through the courts, and should Barry lose there is always a chance that counter action will be taken.
Barry is going to speak to a lawyer to find out exactly what he can do about the thefts, but as many non nationals discover it can cost a lot of money trying to get justice, most often it costs more than the value of the stolen property and people do not pursue the matters, the Sri Lankan wins,
Sri Lankan’s know that the process of law will favour them and this in itself encourages crime against (mainly) visitors, of course there is crime and often violent crime committed by and against themselves but it is the crimes against non nationals that is the topic of this blog,
A Sri Lankan person can leave many items unguarded safe in the knowledge that no one will touch, vehicles can be left for a while unlocked with engines running, crash helmets can be left on the bike, shopping can be left in a tuk tuk or on a bike, indeed cycles are left without being chained up, many day to day things like this happen and there are no thefts or problems, even when a genuine beggar is right next to unsecured items, I think there are 2 reasons that these things are not taken, 1 - generally a Sri will not steal from a Sri (but will from a visitor) and 2 - there are too many people around all watching,
Added on 19th Feb 2010
After a thorough search through rooms and cupboards Barry was infuriated to find even more items of personal property missing and is determined to get something done about it, he has been warned by another European in his area that it will be a dangerous game to play but he feels that “enough is enough” and how do you stop it happening? Barry still needs to have work on the house completed even if it means losing the monies paid to contractors and employing a new contractor, so other people will have to access his property, Barry is alone and has to leave his house from time to time, even the people currently employed as watchers can not be trusted 100%, more to the point though is that as the house has a 6’ high wall all round once over the wall any intruder or person seeking revenge on Barry would be safely out of sight, and from experience I know that the local police wont be rushing out to help him in an emergency.
A Sri Lankan is a master of excuses, when you are on holiday the person you befriend will be most reliable, he will turn up on time and will do all that he promises to do. (though not necessarily what you really wanted to do) when you are here for a longer time he/they will become less reliable, be it builder or beach boy the excuses for failing to show up/start work or whatever will arrive, often very plausible and usually concerning the health of a family member. I started to hear so many excuses that I wandered where they came from or who thought them up, I jokingly concluded that every town in Sri Lanka has an “excuses shop” tucked away in a little side street, where new or original excuses are bought, if this were true I think some shops in tourist type areas would do very well, I mentioned my witticism about “excuses shops” to some of my European friends who said they would ask the persons who let them down in the future if they had visited the “excuses shop”
I can not offer any legal advise on the correct procedure for purchasing land or property in Sri Lanka, There are rules and regulations (as in most countries) as to how land or property should be purchased legally, there are many web sites that offer official advice, there are many lawyers that specialise in property sales and doubtless there are lawyers in many parts of the world that can do likewise. I can not vouch as to the honesty or integrity of such people however as there was a lawyer who prepared the deeds for “my property”
I did try to lower my tax burden by buying the land on a percentage share basis with my “friend” (60-40 to me) and paid very hefty legal fees for the lawyers services, however he had obviously been advised as to my “friends” true intentions and acted in his favour. Had their plan to get me deported at a later date (foiled by my getting married) succeeded then all would have been well with them, whether or not the lawyer involved will also face criminal charges is for the courts to decide, my letters of complaint to various legal societies representing lawyers in Sri Lanka failed to get as much as a courteous reply let alone any disciplinary action, I’m sorry to say there is a lot of dishonesty in many walks of life in Sri Lanka and the legal profession is no different, A good honest lawyer is a good find,
However you purchase land you will still be at the mercy of your contractor, builder or friend to get any building work or landscaping etc done at a fair cost and in a fair time, you could consider getting legally binding contracts between yourself and any chosen person employed by you, but even this is no guarantee of success assuming that a contract will be agreed to anyway! if a friend (fellow European for e.g.) can recommend someone who has previously completed good work in good time, use them! Also make it clear that you will not make any final payments until the work is completed, a combination of contract, recommendation and payment conditions is probably best,
As previously mentioned it is considered perfectly fair to charge non nationals a higher price than local price, this practice is followed by most professions, trades and general worker, it could be said that it is actually a practice that is encouraged as there are no regulations in place to prevent people massively overcharging. The law here is very pro-local in any monetary disputes, so expect to pay more, trying to get local price by trusting a “friend” more often than not will lead to disaster.
If you are considering buying property of any description it will pay you to keep a diary of events, start right at the start and include everything related to your search for, and purchase of property and subsequent building work or restorations, it will only take a few minutes of your time and could prove to be invaluable later, if needed it will save much time and will more than payback for the initial effort, Sri Lankan law can be quite exacting and a dispute over a date or other matter could cause expensive delays should legal action be taken later.
When I was trying to find a lawyer I could trust I met one who seemed to be good and whilst talking to him he told me of a court case that had just finished where another English couple had been cheated out of their holiday home, the man responsible was a tuk tuk driver that they had met, befriended and trusted, (as previously mentioned the perpetrators of this type of crime is all too often the beach boy, tuk tuk driver or guide that we all meet when on holiday) luckily this couple did get their property returned to them, as this all happened in a different area and jurisdiction I can only hope that I too am lucky
I dont know if this is true
There is another couple that I have heard of who employed a “watcher” to look after their holiday home, unfortunately he came from a village a few miles away and this was resented by locals who told the couple that a local man should be employed, they were happy with their choice of watcher as he had been honest and good, and said they would keep him in their employ, the house was then burgled apparently when the couple were in residence, all were watching TV when someone entered the back of the house, (someone making a point?) refusing to give in to the locals the couple still employed their choice of watcher. When they were back in the UK the house was fire bombed and destroyed. I do not know how true this is but, knowing what I do now its believable.
we all have problems
Luke has a beautiful beach side residence, everything was done 100% above board and the correct building permission was obtained for beach side buildings, (needed now because of tsunami fears) Luke is very insistent with his workers and takes no nonsense and this has worked well for him, his wife Elaine is also very firm, perhaps a result of being an employer in the UK, even so both admit that work they had done was charged at a higher “tourist” rate but we all have to accept this, pay up or no work. There were the inevitable problems with poor work and a lot of time was spent chasing the workers to do a proper job, despite their efforts the roof leaked very badly and needed to be redone. There was much minor remedial work required to get the house finished to the standard required. Luke and Elaine do not stay at the house for a full 12 months every year, some time is spent visiting relatives in Europe, they employ a live-in caretaker/helper as well as other staff, most only work when Luke and Elaine are there but the pool is maintained 365 days a year. The staff were left with instructions that the only people who could use the pool were staff and their children, (as there were not that many) of course this was abused and locals were let in for a swim. I believe that this or something similar has recently happened again.
Howard and Ruth have a very unique house inland, and also need to employ various staff, they too went away to visit relatives and returned earlier than expected, the house was in a very bad state, there were people all over the house, (4 floors) and all the stock of beer and spirits had been drunk or taken, needless to say the staff were dismissed, it is just another example of how difficult it is to find people that are genuinely trustworthy.
You don’t always realise something is missing until you need it.
Barry is 77 years old, he bought a house a few hundred metres in land, he did the right thing and paid his government taxes in full and he is the undisputed owner of the land. Barry was at first concerned about very shoddy renovation work to floors and subsequent inspection proved that the work was very bad, Barry had paid 3 times more for bad floors than he should have paid for good ones. Naturally very upset Barry at first sought legal advice and was lucky enough to find what we believe to be an honest lawyer, she advised Barry that it would be a waste of his time and money pursuing a civil action as not only would the “contractor” delay proceedings for possibly years, but Barry would lose anyway. Barry tried to employ another contractor but this man was threatened and told never to return. Other work that Barry has paid for has not been done, the “friend” employed to look after the house in Barry’s absence has been stealing items from the house, once again this person was someone trusted. Barry did not want to believe that the people he trusted were stealing from him so he would put a little pile of rice on the floor of a room that no one should go in, close the door and then go out shopping or the like, sure enough on his return he would find the rice pile had been disturbed.
Work has been paid for in advance and it has not been done, despite the fact that Barry has paid “tourist price” for this work more money is still being asked for,
All workers ask for a deposit before they start work (they think we might get them to do the work and then not pay) and will ask for more as the work progresses, if you really are in control then you will manage to get the work done and finished properly before making the last payment, but sadly it rarely goes that way for non nationals, you might hold the money but the workers hold the Aces, after all if the workers want more money and refuse to carry on what can you do?
Barry’s problems are ongoing as of posting this,
Barry has decided not to take legal action and cut his losses, now a bit wiser and a bit poorer he will continue with the restoration work and will try to call the shots by insisting that only the work he wants doing is done, its done to suit his finances and when he wants it done. I speak to Barry quite regularly and will continue to update his progress and problems.
Update, Barry is trying to get a legal agreement with his contractor to either return most of the monies that have been paid or a time scale for completing the work, so far the contractor is still failing to start work on the days he promises to, as to whether he will meet Barry at the solicitors office is anybodies guess. (my guess is he will not show up)
Added on 06/02/2010
A Bit About Bills
Barry thought his problems were almost over when he employed new people (father and son) to look after his property and be his helpers, unfortunately the son could not resist the temptation of taking Barry’s wallet even though it contained less money than he could earn from Barry in a week, now the son has lost his job, The average Sri Lankan does not seem to have the ability to see ahead, it really is a case of enjoy today as tomorrow never comes. Barry has now got his original contractor to agree that he will supply the materials that Barry has paid for, but it seems unlikely that any work will be done even though that has been paid for as well, I must admit that I am very pessimistic that Barry will get any materials let alone all the materials as the money will have been spent. This trusted person was also responsible for paying Barry’s bills but of course Barry found out he was paying over 6 times more than he should have been, now Barry is not going to pay any more bill money to this trusted person and will let his TV contract (in trustees name) run until it is cut off, the bills of course will go to the trustee, Barry has been told that the trustee will be arrested after 3 final demands have been ignored,
In my case we were at the stage where I had left the house aware of the families evil deeds, I to (to save money lol) had put bills in Saman’s name, in this case it was the mobile internet connection I was using, even though they had stolen everything from me, at one of our meetings to reach a settlement Saman actually had the nerve to bring the unpaid bill to me expecting me to pay it.
Added on 10th Feb 2010
Only today I heard from Barry who wrote to the chief of the Tourist Police complaining about the actions of his contractor, the letter was passed on to the Hikkaduwa Station and an officer was sent to speak with Barry, this was to discuss any action that was to be taken, it would appear that this officer once held a high position in the Tourist Police and claims that in his time there he dealt with many complaints from tourists regarding crimes committed against them, he estimated there was an average of 5 complaints every day, this confirms that this type of problem has a well known and documented record, yet very little if anything has been done to discourage people from committing these crimes and the process of reporting crime and having action taken against the perpetrators is still very difficult, this indicates to me that the government has absolutely no interest in problems suffered by non nationals and probably no intention of implementing change, perhaps a large reduction in visitors and the loss of the valued tourist $ will change this.
For people like Barry and myself who came to Sri Lanka alone it is too easy to fall into a trap by trusting people, not knowing any fellow Europeans (until too late) and having no one to talk things over with leads you straight into their trap, I’m calling it a trap because it is very difficult to get away from though I hope Barry manages to.
Added on 18th Feb 2010.
Barry is still having problems with the various people he has befriended or employed, now a picture of great sentimental value has gone missing, Barry is sure he knows who stole the picture but as the Tourist Police Inspector who is “helping him” pointed out, it is not enough knowing who took or stole something, you need proof that they took it, the man in question is quite cocky about it all safe in the knowledge he will get away with it and that it will cost Barry a lot of money to pursue the matter through the courts, and should Barry lose there is always a chance that counter action will be taken.
Barry is going to speak to a lawyer to find out exactly what he can do about the thefts, but as many non nationals discover it can cost a lot of money trying to get justice, most often it costs more than the value of the stolen property and people do not pursue the matters, the Sri Lankan wins,
Sri Lankan’s know that the process of law will favour them and this in itself encourages crime against (mainly) visitors, of course there is crime and often violent crime committed by and against themselves but it is the crimes against non nationals that is the topic of this blog,
A Sri Lankan person can leave many items unguarded safe in the knowledge that no one will touch, vehicles can be left for a while unlocked with engines running, crash helmets can be left on the bike, shopping can be left in a tuk tuk or on a bike, indeed cycles are left without being chained up, many day to day things like this happen and there are no thefts or problems, even when a genuine beggar is right next to unsecured items, I think there are 2 reasons that these things are not taken, 1 - generally a Sri will not steal from a Sri (but will from a visitor) and 2 - there are too many people around all watching,
Added on 19th Feb 2010
After a thorough search through rooms and cupboards Barry was infuriated to find even more items of personal property missing and is determined to get something done about it, he has been warned by another European in his area that it will be a dangerous game to play but he feels that “enough is enough” and how do you stop it happening? Barry still needs to have work on the house completed even if it means losing the monies paid to contractors and employing a new contractor, so other people will have to access his property, Barry is alone and has to leave his house from time to time, even the people currently employed as watchers can not be trusted 100%, more to the point though is that as the house has a 6’ high wall all round once over the wall any intruder or person seeking revenge on Barry would be safely out of sight, and from experience I know that the local police wont be rushing out to help him in an emergency.
Excuses.
A Sri Lankan is a master of excuses, when you are on holiday the person you befriend will be most reliable, he will turn up on time and will do all that he promises to do. (though not necessarily what you really wanted to do) when you are here for a longer time he/they will become less reliable, be it builder or beach boy the excuses for failing to show up/start work or whatever will arrive, often very plausible and usually concerning the health of a family member. I started to hear so many excuses that I wandered where they came from or who thought them up, I jokingly concluded that every town in Sri Lanka has an “excuses shop” tucked away in a little side street, where new or original excuses are bought, if this were true I think some shops in tourist type areas would do very well, I mentioned my witticism about “excuses shops” to some of my European friends who said they would ask the persons who let them down in the future if they had visited the “excuses shop”
Contract.
I can not offer any legal advise on the correct procedure for purchasing land or property in Sri Lanka, There are rules and regulations (as in most countries) as to how land or property should be purchased legally, there are many web sites that offer official advice, there are many lawyers that specialise in property sales and doubtless there are lawyers in many parts of the world that can do likewise. I can not vouch as to the honesty or integrity of such people however as there was a lawyer who prepared the deeds for “my property”
I did try to lower my tax burden by buying the land on a percentage share basis with my “friend” (60-40 to me) and paid very hefty legal fees for the lawyers services, however he had obviously been advised as to my “friends” true intentions and acted in his favour. Had their plan to get me deported at a later date (foiled by my getting married) succeeded then all would have been well with them, whether or not the lawyer involved will also face criminal charges is for the courts to decide, my letters of complaint to various legal societies representing lawyers in Sri Lanka failed to get as much as a courteous reply let alone any disciplinary action, I’m sorry to say there is a lot of dishonesty in many walks of life in Sri Lanka and the legal profession is no different, A good honest lawyer is a good find,
However you purchase land you will still be at the mercy of your contractor, builder or friend to get any building work or landscaping etc done at a fair cost and in a fair time, you could consider getting legally binding contracts between yourself and any chosen person employed by you, but even this is no guarantee of success assuming that a contract will be agreed to anyway! if a friend (fellow European for e.g.) can recommend someone who has previously completed good work in good time, use them! Also make it clear that you will not make any final payments until the work is completed, a combination of contract, recommendation and payment conditions is probably best,
As previously mentioned it is considered perfectly fair to charge non nationals a higher price than local price, this practice is followed by most professions, trades and general worker, it could be said that it is actually a practice that is encouraged as there are no regulations in place to prevent people massively overcharging. The law here is very pro-local in any monetary disputes, so expect to pay more, trying to get local price by trusting a “friend” more often than not will lead to disaster.
Very important = Keep a Diary!
If you are considering buying property of any description it will pay you to keep a diary of events, start right at the start and include everything related to your search for, and purchase of property and subsequent building work or restorations, it will only take a few minutes of your time and could prove to be invaluable later, if needed it will save much time and will more than payback for the initial effort, Sri Lankan law can be quite exacting and a dispute over a date or other matter could cause expensive delays should legal action be taken later.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
frozen sausages in pocket
I got married at Gordon’s wedding hall, there were a few friends of mine and quite a few friends and relatives of my new wife, most had crammed into a minibus for their 40km each way journey, I paid out for a good wedding paying for dress hire, jewellery hire etc, and loads of food and drinks, I even paid the hire charge for the mini bus. As the day was coming to an end I set off to my house and my wife followed in the minibus as the family and friends expect to see the “brides new home”. when I unlocked the family swarmed in and rampaged through the rooms looking into everything opening drawers and wardrobe doors, turning on switches and taps, there was shaving foam all around the bathroom (surly they knew about aerosols) and inevitably things went missing, mostly minor items as I suppose there was no room in the minibus for the TV, I was told that one uncle had got a pack of frozen sausages in his trouser pocket, I was pissed off to say the least but said he’d better keep them then.
I think this is a good example of how many Sri Lankan’s behave, not everyone stole from the house but all had had a good party and free transport and ultimately some were only interested in stealing any thing they could,
The uncle who stole the sausages is upset with my wife because I (the rich Englishman) have not given his poor family any money, he is not aware of my circumstances and that all has been stolen from me but even if I had money he has lost his chance of a little handout.
I think this is a good example of how many Sri Lankan’s behave, not everyone stole from the house but all had had a good party and free transport and ultimately some were only interested in stealing any thing they could,
The uncle who stole the sausages is upset with my wife because I (the rich Englishman) have not given his poor family any money, he is not aware of my circumstances and that all has been stolen from me but even if I had money he has lost his chance of a little handout.
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