The long established UK refugee charity Tamil Refugee Action Group (TRAG) is in serious crisis due to bad governance and malpractices. TRAG was formed following large influx of Tamil refugees to the UK post July 1983 state sponsored island wide anti-Tamil violence in Sri Lanka. It was providing yeoman service to the Tamil asylum seekers by providing legal, social, medical and housing assistance. The social housing work of TRAG moved out to become the present Tamil Community Housing Association (TCHA), which comes under the ambit of the state quango Housing Corporation.
TRAG which is in existence for over 23 years has jettisoned its founding objectives due to its bad management and other Tamil organisations and Tamil legal firms providing better and pro-active service to the community.
TRAG held its last Annual General meeting on December 8, 2007. The meeting was attended by about 28 members. At the meeting, the Charities financial statements for the year ending 31 March 2007 were adopted and a new board of directors consisting of 14 members was elected without a ballot or show of hands.
The outgoing Chairman Cumarasamy Sithamparapillai who is a solicitor by profession stepped down as Chairman at the meeting to elect the new committee and the LTTE front newspaper ‘Oru Paper’ manager Gobiratnam alias Gobi chaired the meeting as pro-term Chairman. Gobi read out the names of the 14 contestants without taking a vote or head count and declared all 14 were elected without contest.
With the quick finish of the election business, Sithamparapillai moved in to chair the meeting and asked Gobi to leave the platform. Abrupt manner of his removal seems to have embarrassed Gobi. With the humiliation he moved out to the floor silently.
Cumarasamy Sithamparapillai is said to be the Chairman of TRAG for nearly 18 years and N Kugapala is said to functioning as Treasurer for over 18 years. The committee mainly consist of LTTE activists.
The financial statement approved by the limited number of members present at the meeting revealed starling facts. The report to the Financial Statement confirmed the solicitor firm acting for TRAG is Messrs Nathan (KP) & Co, 80 Herent Drive, Ilford, Essex, which is a legal practice of the Chairman C Sithamparapillai operating from his home address. Further inquiries revealed C Sithamparapillai disregarding his conflicting interest has used his firm to act for TRAG and even represented TRAG at an Employment Tribunal Hearing which resulted in the Employment Tribunal criticising C Sithamparapillai about his conflicting role.
The TRAG which has close links with the LTTE follows restrictive practices by including only pro-LTTE activists as members. C Sithamparapillai, N Kugapala, Mrs K Maheswaran, S Varathalingam, Mrs Pushpananthy Kugachandran and Dr S Sabaratnam are known LTTE supporting members in the board. S Varathalingam and Dr S Sabaratnam are serving in the TCHA board and Mrs Pushpanithy Kuchandran is the wife of former head of the LTTE in the UK who is currently employed as Housing Manager of TCHA. Mrs K Maheswaran is the former staff and a member of TCHA and her husband is a pro-LTTE activist in the Walthamstow area.
What is intriguing is these TCHA members are ignoring their conflict of interest positions and have provided funds to the TRAG from TCHA funds and also have allowed the TRAG to write off over £10,000 indebted to TCHA within the past few years.
TRAG’s auditors are Harris & Screaton Ltd and they are acting for them for nearly fifteen years. The TRAG management has not followed good governance practice of appointing new forms at regular intervals. Sources concerned about failing administration of TRAG state that the auditors have raised serious questions about large sums of irregular payments to TRAG’s former Case Worker R Navanayagam when he retired in 2006. They have unofficially informed the Chairman that they cannot act for TRAG any longer.
R Navanayagam is an LTTE activist and he is surrounded by some Tamil gangsters who had undertaken violent attacks on those who question his credentials. Navanayagam had visited Vanni on extended paid holidays. Sources at TRAG confirmed R Navanayagam has family ties with the Chairman Sithamparapillai and have passed on refugee legal cases of TRAG to the Chairman’s legal practice.
At the AGM, a motion was put through to slash the minimum number of attendees for any AGM or EGM to be nine members. C Sithamparapillai was questioned as to how the number could be restricted to 9 when governing board consists of 14 members. The motion was passed with higher number of 15 for a quorum.
The TRAG is funded by many leading funding bodies including the National Lottery.
The Chairman C Sithamparapillai is said to have gone on holiday to Australia to meet some LTTE officials there whilst the Secretary S Varathalingam had gone on holiday to Tamil Nadu India. In their absence the TRAG members have received notice of Extra-ordinary General Meeting to be held on 19 January 2008. The agenda for the meeting is said to consider the validity of the election at the AGM to elect the board members.
Sources state the notice has been sent by the former Case Worker Navanayagam by forging the signature of the Secretary.
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