Journalists complained to the Bribery Commission saying the government had “bribed” MTV by sponsoring an international conference of broadcasters.
MTV, a television network owned by the Capital Maharaja Group, hosted the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union’s general assembly in Colombo this week. The sponsorship, paid for by the Tourism Promotion Bureau, covered MTV’s financial costs in full, including taxes.
It covered venue, food, and drink costs for about 350 participants over four days, a one-day excursion to Bentota and Galle, and other production expenses like performances and stationery. According to Chevaan Daniel, the broadcasting union’s newly-elected vice president and a Maharaja group director, participants privately bore accommodation costs.
MTV submitted a proposal to the bureau seeking sponsorship for the conference in July, almost two years after it was selected to host this year’s general assembly, and just four months before it was to convene. The Tourism Promotion Bureau is the event’s sole sponsor.
Tourism Promotion Bureau approval
MTV’s proposal, dated July 2026, was presented by Buddhika Hewawasam, then chairman of the Tourism Promotion Bureau, through a board paper for the bureau’s board of directors’ approval. They asked for a few days to study the matter.
Draft minutes of the July 23rd board meeting, signed by Hewawasam, show that the board approved the sponsorship. However, in their approval, they noted that it depended on the Cabinet also approving the sponsorship and any spending being subject to government procurement guidelines.
Hewawasam resigned on October 30th and has not responded to media queries since. D. M. S. A. Niroshana, the bureau’s managing director, said that to his knowledge, Hewawasam’s resignation had nothing to do with the outcry around the sponsorship.
When the bureau sent the proposal to the cabinet for further approval, they also decided to transfer the sponsorship budget line from international advertising to domestic advertising. The budget line changed from “Promotions of Destinations through Channels coinciding with International Activities through TV Advertising (International)” to “Local Media FAMS/Media Gatherings”.
Cabinet approval for sponsorships isn’t the usual practice, nor is it needed. The bureau’s board of directors decides how best to use its funds to promote tourism, and only gets the Treasury’s approval to make payments. However, given the size of the requested sponsorship — 104 million rupees — and the event’s international profile, the board recommended submitting MTV’s proposal for cabinet’s further approval, Niroshana told The Examiner.
While they had previously approved sponsorships, they’ve always involved much smaller sums of money — like the 5 million rupees it gave the Derana–Signal Colombo International Kite Festival, or the 10 million rupee-sponsorship for the Kandy Esala Perahara. The board also sought the Treasury's observations before taking it to the cabinet.
But another source involved in the approval process gave The Examiner a different account of the board’s decision to go to cabinet. The board wasn’t “100% comfortable” with the proposal’s content. That was why they recommended the “Finance Ministry proceed with it in their capacity”. The size of the sum, no direct impact to tourism, and the lack of “proper deliverables” prevented the board from green lighting the sponsorship directly, he claimed.
