Sri Lanka property problems: 2009

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Great place for holidays, but

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.

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

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

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.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Agreements!

Saman seemed to be playing some kind of game where he agrees to something then changes his mind, I think in order to prolong events! And hopefully run me out of money!,

. On one occasion whilst I was trying to resolve the problem the Sri Lankan way by agreement I had to get the land surveyed in order to revert to the original agreement and share the land 60 - 40. Saman and his family were living in the house and resented the survey being done, the surveyor explained that he was legally bound to do the work and if necessary would do the job with a police escort, the work went ahead. I could not really face going into the house because of what I imagined had been done to my belongings so waited outside and sometimes ventured into the cinnamon to check on progress, Saman came to speak to me and said he needed to stay at the house for a few more months as he was selling his other house, (he was trying to delay proceedings as that in turn would invalidate my case if the delay was for more than 12 months) I explained that I needed my furniture and electrical items to sell. At that time I had been told I could get these items as I was in possession of the receipts and they were in my name, Saman replied that I could have the items but he would require 50% of the money raised, I later went to the police in order to arrange an escort whilst my belongings were collected and Saman arrived with his lawyer who told the Officer in charge that despite having all the receipts I had in fact gifted the items to Saman and his wife, consequently I was not allowed to recover my own property, I later found out that the CID as well as being in possession of the deeds had also put court orders on everything and nothing could be removed from the house or storage, however even these measures can not actually stop Saman selling items or substituting older furniture for my new,

Whilst we were waiting for the survey to be completed I left for a short while to get refreshments, during this time my wife was threatened by another beach boy friend of Saman’s, it was this “man” who said that “ ???? boys are not afraid of the police or the CID”

It is ironic that if Saman holds a receipt in his name for an item I purchased that is later in dispute then the receipt is adequate for Saman to keep the item but if I have receipts and they’re in my name then it’s a different story, As I have said in other paragraphs of this blog the law in Sri Lanka is pro local regardless of who is in the right.

Many disputes (mainly between Sri Lankan’s) never make it to court, it is sorted out by the local police and agreement. Once the CID were involved and at their suggestion I tried to reach an agreement with Saman where the property would be sold and the money shared on a percentage basis, we met 3 times and a CID officer was present on two occasions, one being where we did agree. I went to a lawyer and had the necessary agreement written out and fully legal, Saman was even consulted by the lawyer to ascertain his commitment, the legal work was quite expensive and I thought it would be worth it but needless to say Saman and his wife refused to sign the paper, they were trying to delay me from pressing the charges and hoping that I would run out of time to continue,

These are some of the items that have been stolen, receipts are held for all listed items, there are many personal items that I bought with me from UK and other items such as saucepans, cutlery and bedding etc that I can not list or try to recover as I have no “proof” they belong to me, even though one is a photograph of my step grandson. 3 x 6’ teak beds, 6 x teak bedside cupboards, 3 x teak dressing tables, 2 small teak tables, 3 x teak wardrobes, 1 x oval table with 6 chairs all teak, 1 x round table and 4 chairs all teak, 1 glass and teak display cabinet, 4 large teak bedside cupboards, 3 piece suite, 1 glass coffee table, 6 teak chairs, 1 teak wine cabinet, 1 teak TV stand and display cabinet, 2 plastic dining tables, 1 plastic small table and 15 plastic chairs, 6 x ceiling fans, 1 x mixer grinder, 3 x TVs, 1 x fridge/freezer, 1 x cooker, 2 x toasters, 1 x steam iron, 2 x mini bar/fridge, 3 x kettles, 1 x washing machine, 2 x microwave ovens.

There is a Swiss man that I met via our mutual friend “Saman” he likes to listen to very loud music so was looking at buying some secluded house/land, I had more land than I actually needed and the prospect of much needed cash was welcome, so I offered land on the other side of the hill that my house was built on, of course my change of circumstances prevented this and I tried to warn the Swiss man of the dangers of dealing with Saman, there was a language difficulty but the Emails seemed to alert him, he came to Sri Lanka and when I tried to speak to him by phone he passed his phone to Saman, there was somewhat of a party background sound and Saman just took the proverbial, I could do no more than hope the Swiss man “sees the light”

A Swiss woman and her daughter stayed for a fortnight in a bungalow next to the one I was staying in, we obviously talked about various topics and fortunately she was not interested at buying a house or land here, they had a special Sri Lankan friend and his family who was very good (aren’t they all?) and they never gave him or his family money but they did give them gifts, on the 4th day of their stay their “friend” arrived in his brand new three wheeler, a present! OK so it was not really my business, if they were happy with their situation they could get on with it, but it was obvious that they too were unknowingly falling under their friends control, My wife and I had to travel some distance on one day and as we were going by train I thought the Swiss ladies might like to join us, after all the trains here are an experience few tourists get to do, I was quite open about my invitation and their friend was listening, he then said that it was far too dangerous for them to travel by train as there was the possibility of a bomb. Both me and the lady scoffed at this as the “war was over” and there was practically a zero % chance of such an event, besides we are European and can not let such issues limit our actions, The friend then got very irate and said that the Swiss ladies were to go nowhere with us, in fact they could only go out accompanied by him, I was a bit shocked by his attitude and reaction (but should have known better) and the lady was very embarrassed by his outburst, on one of the very rare occasions that the friend was absent she did apologise to me and explained that the friend was worried that I might “take the ladies from him“!!!!

Where the Swiss ladies and I were staying was about 25km from where my land and house had been stolen, the “friend” was later proud to say that he had spoken to Saman and Saman had told him that I had only got married in order to obtain a visa and that I gifted my land and house to them,

The beach boy/ guide network that carry out tourist scams must be very wide with much shared knowledge, as not only does Saman know the Swiss ladies friend (25km) but knows Steve and Kath’s “friend (40km). All 3 are bad people.

Another couple who earlier stayed in the bungalow befriended their tuk tuk driver and used him for all their excursions, the man was very fond of fishing and had managed to bring all his fishing tackle from the UK, of course their driver took him to various locations to fish and expressed a desire to own a set of tackle, the man obliged and the driver should have been happy but as the time came for the couple to leave he asked for all of the equipment, (being a considerate driver he thought it would save them the bother of taking it back), on top of this he asked for their mobile phones as well, after all they could just get new ones when back in the UK, another example of the “you have it, I want it” attitude

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Being Rich, Saman, Visa and Tourist Police

Generally speaking you cant be ROBBED in Sri Lanka as all non residents are considered fair game to be overcharged (surely a form of robbery), if they take personal items from you it is not thought of as stealing, after all you are rich and can afford to lose and replace such items, and why should something have sentimental value, its only worth what it can be sold for, this attitude is prevalent in many areas of Sri Lanka and even the children know. Because of lengthy legal proceedings, crooked lawyers and incredible difficulties many non nationals choose not to pursue any action and this perpetuates the attitude of its ok to rob as nothing will be done, As the government also imposes a 100% tax on non nationals buying land it is sending a message to the natives that all non nationals are rich and can afford extra charges, (if the government can do it then so can we) locals buying land are only charged a 4% stamp duty but even this is “got round” i.e. a property is sold for 25 million rupees, the paper work will show that the actual house/land was sold for 4 million, the remainder was for extras, furniture, garden plants etc, now the new owner pays 160 thousand stamp duty and not 1 million, the Sri Lankan government must be losing billions in stamp duty from its own people. If you sell your property you cant recover any of the tax paid.

I wander what the attitude of the government would be if Sri Lankan’s living abroad were subject to being treated in a similar manner to how non nationals are treated here, (i.e. if a Sri Lankan in the UK were charged £5 for a loaf of bread) it would certainly cause some major problems if the hundreds of thousands currently living all around the world suddenly returned.

We are very rich, The average Sri Lankan and especially those that prey on tourists believe that all Europeans are super rich and can afford to be robbed. No one can afford to be robbed, We all have various amounts of money and being robbed affects us differently. How much is taken balanced against how much you have is critical for some. Those with a large amount of capital and a good income or pension are more likely able to endure theft than others not so fortunate, I was robbed of everything

Despite the apparent believe that all non nationals are infinitely rich, there must be realisation that that is not the case as many of the beach boy type hope that their victim will become low or run out of money, and thereby secure their ill-gotten gains, indeed many non nationals do give in to such tactics in order to avoid wasting more money.

Visa,

There are various criteria for obtaining a legitimate visa to stay in Sri Lanka and there is plenty of information on the internet explaining visa conditions, also there are visa agencies that can help, as with many people obtaining a first visa I used my “friend” to help, after all that was what he promised to do, help me. He knew the language, where to go and what to do, once the first visa is obtained subsequent visas are relatively easy to get. It was only when I needed to renew my visa that I found out my first visa was dodgy, My first visa had a 100% legitimate “stamp” I was told that the signature on it was a forgery (but a very, very good one!) and the reason stated on the visa (Medical)was not a valid reason to enter the country, in retrospect the bigger picture can now be seen, and this is most likely the intention

“they get me an illegal visa, put land deeds in wife’s name, take every penny, report visa violation to authorities and have me deported, then keep everything in the knowledge that they cant be touched”

Tourist police (wedding)

When we were making the wedding arrangements I was taken to a hire shop who supply the dresses and the jewellery, when it was delivered my bride decided she no longer liked it, the dress was returned to the hirer only to be delivered back to us again, again we returned it and again it came back, when we finally returned it we were asked for full payment, we offered to pay for the one full day we kept it before the first return, again full payment was demanded and the reason was that we had had the items over a 3 day 2 night period, (as they kept coming back) we took the matter to the police and chose to use the tourist police, the hirer informed the police that she had given us preferential treatment and the dress had been taken away from another who wanted it on the same days and she could have got the full amount from them, (bullshite) needless to say the police found in her favour and no doubt the officer got his thank you

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Beach boys, Guides and Tuk Tuk drivers

I feel it may be beneficial to some to be told the “darker” side of the beach boy/guide culture even though the stories are not directly connected with the property problem, but it will be a small insight into the nature of this breed of persons, Also when I met Saman he was working as a beach boy.

Different places or areas have different ways of dealing with the beach boy, guide, and tuk tuk driver type of person that lurk on many beaches or outside hotels etc, in some places they are banned completely, in others they are supposed to be regulated !. However many do as they please as they claim it is their birthright and they are entitled to make a living, this is true they should be allowed to make a living but the living many make is far better than made out, and of course they make a living off the tourists back. There must have been a big problem a few years ago when a hotel tried to stop beach boys etc operating nearby and riots took place. I believe that an agreement was made with the “boys” but talking to people from that area today the agreement has petered out and the boys are again a pestering tourists,

Many good reviews about beach boys can be found and indeed they can be beneficial but there will always be an ulterior motive, generally speaking, knowing and using a beach boy (short term) for trips etc will enhance many holidays,

Remember that you only think you chose the boy, in fact he will be a high ranking boy and will have chosen you if he thinks there are rich pickings to have, high ranking boys control their areas of beach and they in turn could be controlled by criminal elements, lower boys are seen off or robbed if they managed to get anything from a tourist. This is true as a young man who is a victim of thalidomide used to frequent the beach area near where we stayed, I made a point of bringing him some presents when I next visited and I know that Saman and another took those gifts from him. After the tsunami he came to the attention of the Red Cross and arrangements were made to separate his thumbs and fingers (being all in one) his mother allowed him to have his thumbs separated but refused to allow any other operations as his defects made him the families major bread winner. He now concentrates on begging in larger towns

The major complaint about these boys etc is the pestering and you need to be very firm to stop them calling to you or following you on the beach, this also applies to the sellers of “crafts and clothing” that can become tiresome. In some places the boys will know “all” about you, what room your in and even if you plan to go out, rooms and your moves can be watched in some resorts, under circumstances such as these relaxing can be difficult with the regular calling to you from the other side of the fence. One couple who stayed a fortnight at a beach resort only left the hotel grounds twice, once to go on the beach and once on a very short trip to a turtle hatchery, they thought the “boys” etc were too annoying and never even ventured near the fence line, another couple changed their room from one that faced the beach to one that could not be seen from the beach. If you do decide to use the services of the beach boy/guide/driver you should enjoy yourselves but don’t expect to necessarily go where you want, he will have good reasons not to take you to certain places and very good reasons to take you where he wants as this way he will make commission on all your spending, just inland from the very popular town of Aluthgama is a Muslim area known as Dharga Town, here many items are price marked and the chances of you paying tourist prices are minimal, in fact you may even get a genuine discount if you buy a few items and ask for the best price. But you wont find any or many “boys” who will take you there, there will be many reasons for not taking you but the main one will be that they get no commission, commissions are often accumulated and received as a lump sum at the Sri Lankan new year, so the boys have to be known by the persons paying the commission. I visited and shopped in Dharga Town many times and was often fascinated by the experience, at certain times the town is alive and vibrant. Unfortunately the only tourists to get a glimpse of Dharga Town are often on route to the nearby tourist attraction known as the Brief Gardens, You might think as I did that helping the “boys” and being generous with any payments you make for trips also helps put money into the local community but you’d be wrong, many top beach boys own very nice, indeed enviably nice houses, one I know of has at least 3 houses and can be quoted as saying “stupid German tourists send me lots of money and this is what I bought” of course if you meet him he will tell you how poor he is, and a sob story about the tsunami, if you want to see for yourself you will be taken to a house where someone poor lives and he may even tell you its his mother, she will play along as he will give her some money if you don’t, but if you give her some money he will be sure to take some off her.

4 people who went on trip with a beach boy were upset by seeing the cinnamon workers and the conditions they worked in, “Poor old ladies scraping bark of the cinnamon stems, they only get a pittance, I will never buy cinnamon again“ I was told yet nothing could be further from the truth, I have watched and even helped cinnamon workers and they make the best of the conditions available as they work in many different locations, some cinnamon plantations have very good houses that the workers occupy whilst working there, most workers are men, (not poor old ladies) and actually call the shots as their skills are always needed, they get paid on a percentage basis so it is in their own interests to do a good job I employed one family that worked the cinnamon and their 4 year old son was learning his trade. After the trip to see “real” cinnamon workers the 4 were cajoled into visiting a jewellers on the way back and I think they later realised the entire trip was just to try and make them buy gems, and speaking from experience even that is fraught with problems, as similar jewellery can often be bought cheaper in the UK and getting a certificate of authenticity is no guarantee of a quality item, I suppose that if it is necessary to purchase a souvenir item of jewellery it is better to get a “Moonstone” item as it is unique to Sri Lanka, but as to price, how fair it is, and quality is anyone’s guess,

Another story involves a young Sri Lankan who worked in a gym, whilst on the beach he met some tourists who had visited the gym and stopped to talk to them, he was spotted by the local beach boys and made a quick exit, he then lay low for a few days hoping the incident would be forgotten about.

Of course the “boys” want to please the tourist and can arrange many treats but many will be set up specifically for that purpose, after all how can they be sure the tourist gets to see baby turtles hatching and how many babies there will be unless its prepared, once I worked this ruse out the boys responsible just grinned, however they cant “fix” when an adult turtle comes ashore to lay.

Below added on Jan 30th 2010

About Bob,

To further information on Beach Boys, The area I visited most often and subsequently suffered all my problems is “will be added later after court cases”, I came to hear of an incident where Saman lost Rs300,000 (approx £1,500) to Bob playing cards near the hotel, this is small money compared to the Rs1,600,000 Saman wanted to but the jeep but lost at cards, (see sidebar) but is further proof that the poor beach boys need money for the basics in life, Bob is also known as Dilan (any spelling will do) also known as Dilan the villain, this Bob seems to be not only top beach boy but also controlling the staff at the hotel by fear and intimidation, apparently Bob has taken Saman’s three wheeler as surety for the gambling debt, I will add the link to the holiday web site that has very poor reviews of Bob and his activities after my court cases, but here are some extracts from the reviews. (Saman is the person who stole everything from me)

“The beach boys were a nightmare they would not leave us alone and when we told them we did not want to see the turtles or go on a trip they turned nasty and we felt threatened and intimidated.
This Dylan bloke I read about in early reviews appears to be the ringleader and the rest his henchmen. He is a nasty piece of work and on two occasions he was shouting at us over the fence between the beach and the Hotel. The manager was obviously frightened of him and the staff were too as no action was taken against him even though we complained.”

Of course no action will be taken, you go home, the manager and staff will suffer later, the police do nothing as they are either also afraid or taking backhanders,

“This Dylan character appears to be single handedly responsible for the demise of this beautiful Hotel.”

“We were encouraged both by reviews on Trip Advisor and the hotel reception staff to go with Dylan (Bobs Tours or Bob Dylan). We did meet up with him as he took us to the turtle sanctuary, but then impromptu took us back to his house and family and introduced his tours to us. I just had an instinct that I didn't feel comfortable with him, partly because I could smell alcohol on his breath but also because he took the opportunity to take us into his house on our return to the hotel which I wasn't comfortable with. The important thing to note is that there is a business arrangement between Dylan and the hotel, such that the hotel own Dylan's minibus and rent it to him, so they have a vested interest in recommending Dylan. In fact, the hotel wouldn't recommend any other of the 'beach boys' or tuk tuk drivers, which meant that we didn't go out until we found our own driver that we were comfortable with. The hotel will encourage you to visit the turtle sanctuary for free which is designed purely for Dylan to make his acquaintance with you and sell you his service as a guide.”

“Don't go with Dillon and his crew who hassle you from the beach;”

“Once you give an inch to 'Dillon the Villain', even just to be polite and talk to him he never quits thereafter.”

As my dealings were with Saman I never had much to do with Bob though I did think of him as a rather unsavoury character, I am using what I heard about Bob and the reviews I found about him as an example of what the beach boys of Sri Lanka are all about, nowadays I would not trust any beach boy no matter how well recommended he was,

As mentioned in an earlier passage I once asked a couple if they would like to travel by train to Galle with me and my wife, their beach boy heard me ask and before becoming aggressive tried to dissuade the couple by suggesting there could be bombs on the train, it was his violent outburst that persuaded the couple to “stay with their beach boy”

Be very cautious of dealing with any beach boy, guide, or driver type who approaches you for any reason, many do give the holiday maker good service and often help make the holiday seem special, but all have an ulterior motive and their smiles are just a veneer.

Added on 18th Feb 2010.

The card games continue,

Bob has gone missing from the area, though allegedly innocent (so why disappear) of MURDER, during another card game there was a dispute over Rs 300, (£1.50) and one beach boy was stabbed, he died on the spot, (this happened between 7th Feb. and 14th Feb. 2010) of course the players all know who did the stabbing but none will speak out.

Added on 26th Feb 2010

looking at various web sites and holiday reviews I came upon the following,

Ok, we are relatively rich while some Sri Lankan people remain poor so maybe I shouldn’t begrudge paying hugely inflated prices to enter tourist sites but I can’t help it, it irks me, we call it racism in my country and I wish they would find a more subtle way to overcharge me.

There are several sea turtle hatcheries along Sri Lanka's coast from Induruwa to Yala, all of which claim to be aiding in turtle conservation by buying eggs from poachers and releasing the hatchlings into the sea two or three days after they hatch. All of these places are illegal and are either ignorant of turtle biology or are deliberately misleading tourists in order to make money. When a baby turtle hatches in the wild, he immediately heads out to sea, swimming for two straight days until he reaches the deep sea, and only then does he begin to feed. When the baby turtles are kept in the hatcheries so that tourists can view them, they use up all their energy swimming around in a tank, and by the time they are released they are unable to make it out to their feeding grounds, so they have no chance of survival. These hatcheries prey on tourists who believe they are supporting turtle conservation, when in actuality they are part of the problem. In fact, many of the eggs that are poached nowadays are not sold for human consumption but instead have a new market in the hatcheries, as this has become a big business in Sri Lanka.

The only organization that legally works with turtles in Sri Lanka is the Turtle Conservation Project (TCP). They have two projects which are open to visitors at Rekawa and Kosgoda, where it is possible to view nesting turtles when they come up to lay their eggs (there are no guarantees however; the turtles come when they want to). It may also be possible to see hatchlings here, but again it depends on nature so there are no guarantees. For more info on the TCP projects see my things to do tip.

When walking along the beach, town or village you will get stopped by the beach boys and locals. The locals are nice and friendly but beware if they ask if it's your first time in Sri Lanka . If it is don't tell them as they will try and sell you goods and trips at over the going rate.

Locals will follow you and if you go into a shop they will pretend they have taken you there and get some commission!

If your not in the mood for buying don't make eye contact and politely say "no thank you" which usually does the trick. If not then say "epa" meaning I don't want it.

A tip for the over 50's, tell them your with Saga , they know Saga is all inclusive and trips are included so don't think you will be spending any money!

If you do end up buying something look on the bright side. It probably won't have cost you much and you can give it to the aunty you don't like!

I hate to be dismissive about an important 'feature' but while the guy sits out on his stilt dangling his line in the water his colleagues wait on shore to collect money from the tourists who stop to take pictures. Whether these guys ever catch any fish is debatable, I’m assured by my Sri Lankan friends that its tourist they are really after and catching fish is at best a sideline. But hey, why not, it’s a living init and you wouldn’t get me perched on a stick for hours on end for a few hundred rupees.

Arugam Bay

In tourist areas touts, aka 'beach boys' are a fact of life and they can be very annoying indeed, I have met people who have hardly left their hotel because of them. They are not usually dangerous but are often highly skilled in the art of separating tourists from their holiday cash and some will go to great lengths do it with all manner of cunning scams. The cleverest touts are difficult to distinguish from ordinary well meaning people and it is very easy to be taken in so be always on your guard and remember that while most people in Sri Lanka are happy to help a tourist they would not generally approach you directly unless you were obviously lost or in a dangerous situation.

The simple rule is that people who engage you in conversation in a tourist area are probably out for your money, anyone who leads you into a guesthouse or even a shop is on commission and it is you who pays it.

People are well mannered here and even with touts keeping good-face is important, a firm but polite refusal (in Sinhalese if possible) with lots of eye contact will sometimes do the trick, in Sri Lanka losing your temper is never a good idea. He may be a tout but this is his country, not yours.

When arriving anywhere it is best to have some idea where you are going to stay so use a guide book and telephone in advance. If necessary find a three wheeler, tell the driver the name of the place you want to go and agree a price for the journey in advance. If the driver informs you that the place is closed or full of cholera and that he knows a better place, tell him just to get on with his driving. When doing your holiday shopping hop on a bus to the nearest large town inland, one that is not mentioned in your guide book (and so has no tourist attractions) where things will be a fraction of the price in your resort.

For all their faults the local beach boys will know what is going on, they will know where the locally owned bars are (which are considerably cheaper than beachside hotels) and can arrange trips to places of interest. So by all means have a chat with your fellow tourist and ask them which beach boys they have done business with and use him when it suits you but always remember that this is a business arrangement. The most dangerous touts are the ones you do not realise are touts.

Do not let the touts put you off from meeting the locals, most people are fantastic and will be glad to help you, so if you need advice do not be afraid to ask. One day I stopped the guy in the photograph and asked him where there was somewhere to swim, he took me along to the river, joined me for a swim and later drove me to the nearest rest house. He came back in the evening and joined me for a beer. That is how it works here

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Funny Phone calls

When Gordon’s problems escalated he started to receive “funny” phone calls and kept a log of numbers and times etc, so when my “funny” phone calls started over Christmas 2009 and the New Year I knew what to do, I think it must be the Sri Lankan way to try and intimidate any one who fights back and they think anonymous phone calls work, the police do take intimidation via the phone seriously and deal with it accordingly assuming that is that the sim card is not stolen, I believe that only 2 of the 5 unknown numbers that called my phone are malicious the other 3 being genuine “wrong numbers” the 2 baddies have called 37 times between them in the 2 weeks since and including Christmas Day, At first I answered the calls but when I realised what was happening I just cut the calls off but changed my mind and answered the call but just left the phone, then I remembered my tape recorder and got it ready when the next spate of calls started, when the phone rang and I could see it was one of the bad numbers, I switched on the tape, answered the call, put phone on loudspeaker and waited till they hung up, as luck had it one call was from a female (1st time a woman has spoken) who said that I was going to lose, so whoever it was must have been referring to the court cases, and they must also be associates of Saman most likely relatives of his wife, a man using the other number has said that I’m going to get cut (stabbed) also said was that I “go with girls” and my wife is a prostitute, even if the accusations had an iota of truth in them what good bringing any such issues to light at the trial will do is beyond me, as they have nothing to do with Saman’s defence. My lawyer seems quite happy by events and wants me to make sure the CID are informed before the court cases start as this sort of intimidation is bad for Saman’s case, Added on 12th January 2010, the calls are getting to be a serious problem now but have most of one long call on tape so I will be informing the CID and changing my sim card, on 19th Jan a miss call was recieved from one of the bad numbers, there was just the noise of children playing in the background, I am convinced now that my name is on the sim and that the sim is not stolen, CID are busy due to impending government elections
Added on 18th Feb 2010,
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,