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".