ශ්යාම් නුවන් ගනේවත්ත
පාඩු ලබන රාජ්ය ව්යාපාර ආයතන ගොඩනැඟීමට නම් ඒවා මුළුමණින්ම පුළුල් ප්රතිව්යqහකරණයකට Radical restructuring ලක් කළ යුතු බවටද ඒවායේ සිටින අතිරික්ත සේවකයන් විශ්රාම ගැන්විය යුතු බවටද රාජ්ය ව්යාපාර පිළිබඳ පාර්ලිමේන්තු කාරක සභාව (කෝප්) නිර්දේශ කර ඇත. ඉකුත්දා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කළ කෝප් වාර්තාව මගින් ප්රධාන රාජ්ය ආයතන 48 ක් පාඩු ලබන බව හෙළිදරව් කළ අතර ඊට මූලික වශයෙන්ම අතිරික්ත සේවක පිරිසක් සිටීම දිනෙන් දින අදාළ ආයතනවල වියදම් ඉහළ යැම දුර්වල කළමනාකරණය සහ ප්රාග්ධන හිඟය යන සාධක හේතු වී ඇති බවද අවධාරණය කර ඇත.
පාඩු ලබන ආයතන, ලාභ පාඩු නොලබන ආයතන, ලාභ අඩුවීගෙන යන ආයතන ඇතුළු කෝප් සභාවේ විමර්ශනයට ලක්වන සියලු ආයතන දියුණු තත්ත්වයට පත් කර ගැනීම සඳහා කෝප් වාර්තාව මගින් පොදු නිර්දේශ 22 ක් ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබේ. ඒවා ක්රියාත්මක වන බවට ප්රධාන ගිණුම් තැබීමේ නිලධාරීන් වශයෙන් අදාළ අමාත්යාංශ ලේකම්වරයා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට සහතික විය යුතු බවටද කෝප් සභාව නියෝජනය කරන ආණ්ඩුපක්ෂ සහ විපක්ෂ සියලු සාමාජිකයන් ඒකමතිකව තීරණය කර ඇත. මෙවැනි තීරණයක් ගෙන ඇත්තේ ප්රථම වරටය.
ලබන වසරේ (2012) සිට රාජ්ය ආයතන විමර්ශනයට ලක්කර මාස තුනෙන් තුනට කෝප් වාර්තාව නිකුත් කිරීමට සහ කෝප් වාර්තාව මගින් ලබාදෙන නිර්දේශ වසරක් ඇතුළත ක්රියාත්මක කොට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට වාර්තා කළ යුතු බවටද පොදු ව්යාපාර පිළිබඳ කාරක සභාව තවදුරටත් ඒකමතිකව තීරණය කර තිබෙන බව "දිවයින ඉරිදා සංග්රහය"ට වාර්තා වේ.
http://www.divaina.com/2011/12/04/news03.html
කෝප් නිර්දේශ පෙන්වා "ෂේප් වීමේ" න්යායද?
පොදු ව්යාපාර කාරක සභාවේ (කෝප්) අලුත්ම වාර්තාව ඉකුත් දා (01 දා) පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් විය. කෝප් සභාවේ සභාපති ඩිව් ගුණසේකර මහතා විසින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කළ මේ වාර්තාවට අනුව, එම කොමිසම විසින් විමර්ශනයට ලක් කළ රාජ්ය ව්යාපාර ආයතන 229 න් ආයතන 48 ක් පාඩු පිට පවත්වාගෙන යයි. තවත් ඇතැම් ආයතන ලාභ ලැබුවද එම ලාභ පසුගිය වසර වලදී සැලකිය යුතුලෙස අඩුවෙමින් පවතින බවද හඳුනා ගනු ලැබ ඇත. මෙසේ පාඩු ලබන ආයතන, ලාභ අඩුවෙමින් පවතින ආයතන මෙන්ම කෝප් සභාවේ විමර්ශනයට ලක්වන සෙසු ආයතන සම්බන්ධයෙන්ද එම ආයතනවල තත්ත්වය යහපත් කර ගැනීම සඳහා වන නිර්දේශ ද කෝප් වාර්තාවට ඇතුළත්ය. මෙකී ආයතන සියල්ලම සම්බන්ධයෙන් වන පොදු නිර්දේශ මෙන්ම එක් එක් ආයතන සම්බන්ධයෙන් වෙන වෙනම ද කෝප් වාර්තාවේ නිර්දේශ ඇතුළත්ය. මෙම අලුත්ම කෝප් වාර්තාවේ අන්තර්ගතය ඇතුළු මෙකී නිර්දේශ පිළිබඳ මේ ලිපියෙන් අපි සාකච්ඡා කරමු.
කෝප් කමිටුවේ විමර්ශනයට යටත්ව පවතින රාජ්ය ආයතනවලින් එම සභාවට මෙතෙක් කල් සියලු ආයතන විමර්ශනයට ලක් කිරීමට අවස්ථාව නොලැබුණත් මෙවර වාර්තාවේ විශේෂත්වය වන්නේ එකී සියලු ආයතන විමර්ශනයට ලක්කරමින් වේ වාර්තාව පිළියෙල කොට තිබීමයි. මෙසේ අදාළ සියලු ආයතන විමර්ශනයට ලක් කිරීමේ පහසුව තකා අමාත්ය ඩිව් ගුණසේකර මහතාගේ සභාපතිත්වයෙන් යුත් ප්රධාන කමිටුවට අමතරව මෙවර තවත් අනුකමිටු තුනක්ද පත්කර තිබිණි. එම අනුකමිටුවල සභාපතිවරුන් ලෙස කටයුතු කොට ඇත්තේ ඇමැති සුසිල් ප්රේමජයන්ත, එජාප නියෝජ්ය නායක කරු ජයසූරිය, සහ ලසන්ත අලගියවන්න යන මහත්වරුය. මේ අනුව ඩිව් ගුණසේකර මහතාගේ සභාපතිත්වයෙන් යුත් ප්රධාන කමිටුව විසින් ආයතන 92 ක් පිළිබඳවද, සුසිල් ප්රේමජයන්ත මහතාගේ සභාපතිත්වයෙන් යුත් අනුකමිටුව විසින් ආයතන 39 ක් පිළිබඳවද, කරු ජයසූරිය මහතාගේ සභාපතිත්වයෙන් යුත් අනුකමිටුව විසින් තවත් ආයතන 39 ක් පිළිබඳව සහ ලසන්ත අලගියවන්න මහතාගේ සභාපතිත්වයෙන් යුත් අනුකමිටුව විසින් ආයතන 59 ක් පිළිබඳවද විමර්ශන කටයුතු සිදුකර තිබිණි. මෙවර වාර්තාව පිළියෙල කිරීම සඳහා පොදු ව්යාපාර කාරක සභාව විසින් ආයතන විමර්ශනය කිරීමේ කටයුතු 2010.08.04 දින ආරම්භ කරන ලද අතර ඉකුත් නොවැම්බර් 18 දින දක්වාම එම කටයුතු සිදුව ඇත. ආයතන 229 ම විමර්ශනයට ලක් කළ නිසා මෙවර කෝප් වාර්තාව ව්යවස්ථාදායක ඉතිහාසයේ විශාලතම කෝප් වාර්තාව බව කෝප් කමිටුවේ සභාපති ඩිව් ගුණසේකර මහතා කියයි. එය පිටු 176 කින් සමන්විතය.
අදාළ සියලු ආයතන විමර්ශනයට ලක් කිරීමෙන් පසු ඒ සියල්ල ප්රධාන කාණ්ඩ හතරකට ගොනු කරනු ලැබ ඇත. එනම් (1) මූල්ය ස්ථාවරත්වයක් සහිත ආයතන, (2) ලාභපාඩු නැති මට්ටමේ පවතින ආයතන, (3) ආදායම් අඩුවෙමින් පවතින ආයතන සහ (4) පාඩු පිට පවත්වාගෙන යන ආයතන වශයෙනි. මේවා අතුරින් කෝප් වාර්තාවේ වැඩි අවධානයක් යොමුව ඇත්තේ ආදායම අඩුවෙමින් පවතින ආයතන සහ පාඩු පිට පවත්වාගෙන යන ආයතන සම්බන්ධයෙනි. මේ අනුව 2010 මූල්ය වර්ෂයේ දී රාජ්ය ව්යවසායන් 48 ක් පාඩු පිට පවත්වාගෙන යන බව කෝප් වාර්තාව මගින් අනාවරණය කරගෙන ඇත. එම ආයතන ලැයිස්තුව මේ ලිපිය සමඟ පළ වේ. අප මේ ලිපිය මගින් වැඩි අවධානයක් යොමු කරන්නේද මේ පාඩු ලබන රාජ්ය ආයතන ගැනය.
පාඩු ලබන රාජ්ය ආයතන
1. ශ්රී ලංකා තේ මණ්ඩලය
2. කුඩා තේ වතු සංවර්ධන අධිකාරිය
3. තේ ශක්ති අරමුදල
4. ජාතික තරුණ සේවා සභාව
5. මානව සම්පත් සංවර්ධන මණ්ඩලය
6. ජාතික ළමාරක්ෂක අධිකාරිය
7. තුරුසවිය අරමුදල
8. ශ්රී ලංකා පදනම
9. ලංකා පිඟන් සංස්ථාව
10. ශ්රී ලංකා නව නිපැයුම්කරුවන්ගේ කොමිසම
11. ජනතා වතු සංවර්ධන මණ්ඩලය
12. රාජ්ය වැවිලි සංස්ථාව
13. ශ්රී ලංකා කජු සංස්ථාව
14. කාර්මික සංවර්ධන මණ්ඩලය
15. රාජ්ය ඖෂධ සංස්ථාව
16. රාජ්ය ඖෂධ නිෂ්පාදන සංස්ථාව
17. ශ්රී ජයවර්ධනපුර මහ රෝහල
18. විජය කුමාරතුංග අනුස්මරණ රෝහල
19. ශ්රී ලංකා සමෘද්ධි අධිකාරිය
20. ලංකා ඛනිජ තෙල් සංස්ථාව
21. පරමානු බලශක්ති අධිකාරිය
22. ශ්රී ලංකා මහවැලි අධිකාරිය
23. ජල සම්පත් මණ්ඩලය
24. අන්තරායකර ඖෂධ පාලක ජාතික මණඩලය
25. සුගතදාස ජාතික ක්රීඩා සංකීර්ණය
26. ශ්රී ලංකා පුවත්පත් මණ්ඩලය
27. ජාතික මැණික් හා ස්වර්ණාභරණ අධිකාරිය
28. නාවික පාරිසරික ආරක්ෂක අධිකාරිය
29. ශ්රී ලංකා එයාර් ලයින්ස්
30. මිහින් එයාර් සමාගම
31. ලංකා නැව් සංස්ථාව
32. සමුපකාර තොග වෙළෙඳ ආයතනය
33. වී අලෙවි මණ්ඩලය
34. රාජ්ය තොග වෙළෙඳ සමාගම
35. සමාජ ආරක්ෂණ මණ්ඩලය
36. ශ්රී ලංකා වරාය අධිකාරිය
37. ජාතික ආපදා කළමනාකරණ මධ්යස්ථානය
38. මාර්ග සංවර්ධන අධිකාරිය
39. ශ්රී ලංකා ගමනා ගමන මණ්ඩලය
40. ජාතික නිවාස හා සංවර්ධන අධිකාරිය
41. නාගරික සංවර්ධන අධිකාරිය
42. ජලසම්පාදන හා ජලාපවහන මණ්ඩලය
43. ජාතික ජල ජීවී සංවර්ධන අධිකාරිය
44. ලංකා ධීවර සංස්ථාව
45. ලංකා ධීවර වරාය සංස්ථාව
46. ජාතික ව්යවසාය සංවර්ධන අධිකාරිය
47. ශ්රී ලංකා ආයුර්වේද ඖෂධ සංස්ථාව
48. ශ්රී ලංකා උසස් තාක්ෂණ අධ්යාපන ආයතනය
අතිරික්ත සේවකයන් සිටීම, වියදම් ඉහළයැම, දුර්වල කළමනාකරණය සහ ඌන ප්රාග්ධනය යනාදී කරුණු මෙකී රාජ්ය ව්යවසායන් පාඩු ලැබීමට හේතු වී ඇති කරුණු අතර ප්රධාන තැනක් ගන්නා බව කෝප් වාර්තාව පෙන්වා දෙයි.
අතිරික්ත සේවකයන් අඩුකිරීම සඳහා විශ්රාම ගැන්වීමේ ක්රම හඳුන්වාදීම සහ එකී ආයතන කාර්යක්ෂම ප්රතිව්යqහගතකරණයකට ලක් කිරීමද මෙකී පාඩු ලබන ආයතන ගොඩගැනීම සඳහා අනුගමනය කළ යුතු ප්රධාන පියවරයන් බව කෝප් වාර්තාව මගින් නිර්දේශ කරනු ඇත. මෙකී ඇතැම් ආයතනවල අනුමත කාර්ය මණ්ඩලයේ ඇති පුරප්පාඩු පිරවීමට පියවර ගෙන නොමැති බවත් එසේ තිබියදීම ඇතැම් ශ්රේණි යටතේ අතිරික්ත නිලධාරීන් බඳවාගෙන සිටින බවටත් කෝප් සභාව විසින් හඳුනාගෙන ඇත. මේ නිසා අදාළ ආයතනවල අනුමත කාර්යමණ්ඩලය පිළිබඳ නැවත සමාලෝචනයක් කරන ලෙසට කෝප් වාර්තාව මගින් මහාභාණ්ඩාගාරයට නිර්දේශ කර ඇත.
රජයේ විගණකාධිපතිවරයා විසින් මේ බොහෝ ආයතනවලට විගණන විමසුම් (Audit Queries) යවනු ලැබුවත් ඒවා නොතකා හරිමින් පිළිතුරු ලබා නොදෙන බවද කෝප් කමිටුව නිරීක්ෂණය කර ඇත. මේ නිසා අදාළ ආයතනය අයත් අමාත්යාංශයේ අභ්යන්තර විගණකවරයා විසින් මේ ගැන අවධානය යොමුකොට අදාළ විගණන විමසුම්වලට නිසි පිරිදි කලට වේලාවට පිළිතුරු සැපයිය යුතු බවද, අමාත්යාංශයේ ප්රධාන ගිණුම් නිලධාරියා වශයෙන් අමාත්යාංශ ලේකම්වරයා මේ සඳහා වගකිව යුතු බවද කෝප් වාර්තාව මගින් අවධාරණය කර තිබේ. මේ ආකාරයට අදාළ රාජ්ය ව්යවසායන් සම්බන්ධයෙන් වන තවත් නොයෙකුත් ගැටලු හා ප්රශ්න පිළිබඳවද ඒ සඳහා වන නිර්දේශයන්ද කෝප් වාර්තාවේ අන්තර්ගත වේ. ඇතැම් ආයතන අනවශ්ය ආයතන ලෙස සලකා ඒවා වසා දැමිය යුතු බවට සහ වෙනත් ආයතන සමඟ ඒකාබද්ධ කළ යුතු බවටද කෝප් වාර්තාව මගින් නිර්දේශ කර ඇත. මේවා අතර වැවිලි ක්ෂේත්රයට සහ පොහොර සම්බන්ධ ආයතනද තිබෙන බව කෝප් සභාපති ඩිව් ගුණසේකර මහතා කියයි. සමස්තයක් වශයෙන් අදාළ ආයතන ගොඩගැනීමට අදාළව පොදු නිර්දේශ 22 ක් කෝප් වාර්තාව මගින් සිදුකර ඇත. අප මෙහිදී සාකච්ඡා කළේ ඉන් වැදගත් කිහිපයක් ගැන පමණය.
පොදු ව්යාපාර කාරක සභාව සමන්විත වන්නේ ආණ්ඩු පක්ෂයේ හා විපක්ෂයේ මන්ත්රීවරුන්ගෙනි. කෝප් කමිටුව නියෝජනය කරන මෙම සියලු දේශපාලන පක්ෂ නියෝජිතයන් විසින් ඒකමතිකව ගත් ඉතා වැදගත් තීරණයක් ගැනද මෙහිදී සඳහන් කළ යුතුය. කෝප් සභාපතිවරයා කියන පරිදි එම තීරණය මෙසේයි.
"පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කරනු ලැබූ කෝප් වාර්තාව ගැන අමාත්යාංශවල ප්රධාන ගිණුම් නිලධාරීන්ගේ දැඩි අවධානය යොමු විය යුතුයි. මෙහි සඳහන් කරුණු ප්රවේශමෙන් අධ්යයනය කොට අවශ්ය පියවර ගන්නා බවට අමාත්යාංශ ලේකම්වරු පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට සහතික විය යුතුයි."
මේ තීරණය ඉතාම වැදගත් එකක් බවට කිසිම සැකයක් නැත. එහෙත් කෝප් වාර්තා මගින් කරන නිර්දේශ සහ කෝප් කමිටුව විසින් ගනු ලබන තීන්දු - තීරණ කොතෙක් දුරට ක්රියාත්මක වන්නේද? වඩාත් වැදගත්ම ප්රශ්නය එයයි. පසුගිය සෑම වසරකදීම පාහේ කෝප් වාර්තා නිකුත් වූයේය. ඒ සෑම එකකින්මද පාඩු ලබන රාජ්ය ව්යවසායන් හෙළිදරව් කොට ඒවා ගොඩනැගීමට අනුගමනය කළ යුතු නිර්දේශද ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබුණු බව අපට මතකය. මේවා පුවත්පත්වලද හරිහරියට පළවූ බවද අපට මතකය. එහෙත් මේ නිර්දේශවලින් ක්රියාත්මක වී ඇත්තේ කීයෙන් කීයද? ඒ නිසා කෝප් වාර්තාවේ නිර්දේශ ක්රියාත්මක වන බවට කෝප් කමිටුව විසින් නිසි පසු විපරම් වැඩපිළිවෙළක්ද ආරම්භ කළ යුතු බව අපේ හැඟීමයි. අලුතින් ආයතන ගැන විමර්ශනය කරන අතරම එකී ආයතන සම්බන්ධයෙන් පසුගිය කෝප් වාර්තා මගින් සිදුකර තිබූ නිර්දේශ ක්රියාත්මක කර තිබෙනවාද යන්නත් සොයා බැලිය යුතුය. එසේ නැත්නම් ඊට එරෙහිව කෝප් සභාව විසින් ගන්නා පියවර මොනවාද? මේ ප්රශ්නයද අප හමුවේ තිබෙන්නකි.
ඒ නිසා අප කියා සිටින්නේ කෝප් නිර්දේශ ක්රියාත්මක වීමට නම්, එම නිර්දේශ කෝප් වාර්තාවට පමණක් සීමාවීමට ඉඩ නොතැබිය යුතු බවයි. ඒවා ක්රියාත්මක වන බවට මුලින් සඳහන් කළ පරිදිම නිසි පසු විපරමක්ද කෝප් සභාව විසින් කළ යුතුව තිබේ. මෙය කිරීමට රාජ්ය ව්යාපාර පිළිබඳ කාරක සභාව (කෝප්) සූදානම්ද? කෝප් කමිටුව ගන්නා වෙහෙස මහන්සියේ නිසි ඵල ලැබෙනු ඇත්තේ එවිටය. ඇතැම් විට ජාතික ළමාරක්ෂක අධිකාරිය, ජාතික තරුණ සභාව යනාදී ආදායම් ඉපයීමට එතරම් හැකියාවක් නැති සමාජයට, තරුණ තරුණියන්ට සේවා සලසන ආයතනවලින් ලාභ ලබන තත්ත්වයක් ගැන අපට අපේක්ෂා කළ නොහැකි වුවත් කිසි වැඩකට නැති මහජන මුදල් කාබාසිනියා කරන ආයතන එක්කෝ වසා දැමිය යුතුය. නැතහොත් කෝප් සභාව විසින් නිර්දේශ කර ඇති පරිදිම ඒවා වෙනත් ආයතන සමඟ ඒකාබද්ධ කළ යුතුය.
ඒ නිසා අවසාන වශයෙන් මෙකී නිර්දේශ ක්රියාත්මක කිරීමට අදාළ ආයතන ක්රියාත්මක වන ආකාරය දෙසත් එකී නිර්දේශ ක්රියාත්මක වීමේ ප්රගතිය ගැන පසුවිපරම් කිරීමට කෝප් සභාව විසින් ගන්නා ක්රියාමාර්ගය කුමක්ද යන්න ගැනත් අපි බලා සිටිමු. ජනතාව ඒ දෙස බලා සිටිති.
ශ්යාම් නුවන් ගනේවත්ත
http://www.divaina.com/2011/12/04/politics03.html
COPE: Huge lapses in procedures and financial management
By Wijitha Nakkawita
Parliamentary Select Committee have stated instances in its report published on Wednesday (Dec 1) on public enterprises where Heads of public enterprises had paid exorbitant legal fees, put up buildings on lands without examining ownership, and failed to take action to recover large sum of monies due from outsiders.
At the top of the list of enterprises that owed huge sums of money to banks or other public enterprises are the Ceylon Electricity Board and the National Water Supply and Drainage Board.
Among the institutions that neglected recovery of funds was the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation that “did not take action to recover Rs.42, 649,586 receivable from various political parties for the use of air time,” the COPE report stated.
The report also pointed out that certain public servants have owed some state enterprises as much as 195 million rupees but these amounts have not been recovered from them after they had been transferred to other state institutions. Topping the list of bad debts of employees was Sri Jayawardhanapura University that had failed to recover 69 million rupees while the second institution the Open University had failed to recover 40 million rupees.
Among the errant public enterprises that failed to pay debts to other public enterprises were Mihin Lanka, owing 10 million rupees to SLRC, Ceylon Shipping Corporation owing 50 million rupees, the largest bad debt, to the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. Mihin Lanka again not paid interest on its loan of 500 million rupees obtained from the Airport and Aviation Serviced (Pvt.) Ltd., while Sri Lanka Rubber Manufacturing Corporation had owed People’s Bank and General Treasury Rs. 113 million and Rs.1,385 million respectively, the report stated.
Of the 229 public enterprises 40 were found to be loss making ones. Ceylon Electricity Board owed 50 billion rupees to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation but the Treasury has taken over the debt. The National Water Supply and Drainage Board owed 5.4 billion rupees to the Treasury at the end of year 2010.
A number of shortcomings in accounting and failing to provide document to the Auditor General were found but there were also genuine steps taken in the public interest to deviate from the procedures laid down in the government regulations that were accepted as fair reasons by the COPE in its report.
http://www.nation.lk/2011/12/04/news11.htm
Corrupt officials, politicians exposed (COPE) but committee lacks power: DEW
Amend Standing Orders for mandate to summon former heads of state enterprises
By Chandani Kirinde
Chairman- Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE), Minister D.E.W. Gunasekera says the powers of the Parliamentary oversight committee should be enhanced, to enable it to summon former heads of State-run institutions, as well as bring under its purview private limited companies incorporated under the Companies Act.
Mr. Gunasekera who presented the COPE report to Parliament last Thursday, said that, during its deliberations, the committee identified several instances where enterprises such as maga negume companies and subsidiaries of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) which needed to be summoned, but could not be done, due to the Committee's mandate limiting it to institutions audited by the Auditor General.
Hence, the Committee had recommended amending Standing Orders of Parliament to empower the Committee to summon such companies and allow for scrutiny of their finances. The COPE report also called for greater scrutiny of the eligibility of persons appointed as heads of State corporations, departments, authorities etc., saying that, they should not only be academically but also professionally qualified.
He said that the Parliamentary Committee on High Posts, which examines the eligibility of such candidates too, should look into this matter with all seriousness. In the 176-page report, COPE had examined the accounts of 229 institutions, of which, 40 were listed as loss-making.
"The Committee categorised the institutions into four groups namely, those functioning profitably, those functioning at break-even, i.e. avoiding loss, but failing to make a profit, those institutions whose revenue is dwindling and those institutions running at a loss," Mr. Gunasekera said.
The 40 loss-making institutions included Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), Samurdhi Authority of Sri Lanka, SriLankan Airlines, Mihin Air, Ceylon Shipping Corporation, the Ports Authority and Transport Board.
The COPE report revealed numerous instances of waste, corruption and mismanagement of State funds running into billions of rupees, in all the examined institutions, with little or no follow-up action to bring to book those responsible for such lapses.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) which comes under the Ministry of Sports, was one of the worst offenders, as revealed by the contents of the report. According to the income statement of SLC, expenditure of the Cricket Board had increased by 524% in 2010, when compared with 2009.
The reason given for this was that more money was spent on matches played by the 'A' team and Under-19 team, the national pool was increased up to 100 players, and they were provided with necessary facilities, while action was also taken to promote women’s cricket.
The total liabilities of SLC stood at Rs 6.1 billion, with total assets being only Rs 3.1 billion, when COPE examined SLC accounts in July and November 2011. SLC officials told COPE that, to pay the liability, they have applied for a loan to the Bank of Ceylon, and the ICC would pay the due amount when audited expenses are forwarded.
COPE had queried the irregular payment of Rs 650,000 to some officers, to which SLC officials who appeared before the committee, replied that this amount was paid for some officers for "doing a good job on the Australian tour", on a proposal of the interim committee. COPE has asked for a list of names of people who were paid.
The committee also observed that the initial estimate for the construction of the Hambantota, Kettarama and Pallekele playgrounds had been Rs 3.3 billion, whereas the total expenditure was Rs 7.18 billion. Cricket Board officials were asked to submit a report with regard to the price escalation and other relevant information.
The committee observed that SLC had paid SLIDA Rs 1.46 million for an assessment of cadre, but the SLIDA report made no provision to introduce an acceptable procedure for promotions, salary structure and age limit for each post, and was not included in it, and the proposal to increase the present cadre from 267 up to 727 in 2012, was suggested without a justification for expansion of the workforce at SLC.
The Committee report also noted that 47 employees had been recruited in 2010, where most of them did not have the basic qualifications and experience relevant to the particular post.
In the Sri Lanka Transport Board, COPE noted that the number of employees are around 34,000, whereas the number of buses in operation are 5,225. SLTB officials told the Committee that action is being taken to increase the number of buses up to 6,000 by end 2011.
In the Samurdhi Authority, a sum of Rs 4,005,000 had been defrauded by 10 members of the staff of the Samurdhi Bank, Nuwara Eliya, by recording as payment made to beneficiari
s. COPE said this type of shortcomings has resulted due to internal audits not being strong enough.
One of the biggest loss-making institutions was Mihin Lanka, which has been running at a significant loss since its inception. The current liability of the company is Rs 2.4 billion, the report said.
The Chief Accounting Officer of Mihin Lanka had told COPE that the company had made a Rs 16 million operational profit in the past six months, which can be viewed as a positive sign of a turnaround.
There were many instances where the finances of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) were not found to be in order or badly mismanaged. In one instance, two cranes purchased at a cost of Rs 444 million in 2008, were found lying idle even by June last year. It was also noted that the SLPA had engaged in several controversial construction work such as the Sooriyawewa Cricket stadium. SLPA officials had told the committee that they had engaged in this work, based on a Cabinet decision, and that SLC had paid Rs 1,200 million to the SLPA for their work.
COPE also reported a massive loss to the country due to the sale of mineral sands at less than the market price, by Lanka Mineral Sands Limited, which comes under the Ministry of State Resources & Enterprise Development.
The Report said that even though COPE had directed not to market mineral sands without calling for Tenders, 15,750 metric tonnes (MT) of Limonite at US$ 100.74 per MT and 445 MT of Rutile at US$ 846.65 per MT had been sold to the previous buyer without calling for a fresh Tender.
By this time, the market price of Limonite and Rutile had gone up to US$ 311 and US$ 1,776 per MT respectively, and losses to the country, due to this, ran into well over Rs 408 million, the report said.
Losses incurred by the National Lotteries Board (NLB) due to the investment in the Online National Lottery Company had been Rs 983 million, and that the entire amount had been written off by a Cabinet decision,' the report said.
COPE has called for the NLB to submit to it the names of the advertising firms and the amount paid to each firm between 2009 and 2011, as irregularities were noted in such payments as well.
With regard to the Urban Development Authority (UDA), COPE noted that the ongoing 65,000 housing unit project in the Colombo city had not been included in the Corporate Plan for 2008-2012 .UDA officials have agreed to submit a revised corporate plan.
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/111204/News/nws_12.html
COPE reveals giga-corruption, including Mihin, but to what end?
By Namini Wijedasa
It only scratches the surface of mismanagement and impropriety at state-run organizations. Nevertheless, the latest report of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) affords valuable insight into just how shoddily Sri Lanka’s national institutions are governed.
The report was presented to parliament on Thursday. It reveals that 48 out of the 228 enterprises examined ran at a loss in 2010 while at least four showed decreasing revenue. The extent of mismanagement is galling and points to rapid, untamed degeneration of public sector bodies.
Many institutions had outdated corporate and action plans or had not achieved targets; did not use procurement plans; had no functioning audit and management committees; did not table annual reports in time; had not recovered debts and receivables satisfactorily; were bogged down in legal issues; had unfilled vacancies; and did not reply audit queries. Several institutions are deemed redundant and with overlapping functions.
Treasury faulted
The committee has faulted the Treasury for not properly supervising the work of public enterprises. It has observed that the chairman and board of directors of certain institutions are qualified neither academically or professionally, or lack experience in the respective field.
Among the loss-making institutions are Mihin Air and SriLankan Airlines. The government ignored the saner counsel of industry experts to set up Mihin in 2007. The budget carrier has since racked up Rs2.4 billion in losses. It has yet to pay interest to the value of Rs500 million on loans obtained from Airport and Aviation Services (Pvt) Ltd. It also owes Rs10 million to Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation.
Information available on the full extent of Mihin’s losses is limited. COPE has directed the Mihin management to submit within one month data on its capital input, loss and profit and number of passengers carried. The government continues to funnel money into the budget carrier despite it being--predictably--in dire financial straits. Its chief administrative officer told COPE the Treasury will settle the monies owed to Airport and Aviation Services.
The entry under SriLankan airlines briefly indicates that a loss of Rs9.3 billion for the financial year 2008-2009. COPE was informed, however, that losses were reduced to break--even during 2010-2011. Mihin was set up and SriLankan retaken on the premise that the government can run airlines but the figures tell a different story. Both airlines fall under the purview of President Mahinda Rajapaksa as Minister of Ports and Aviation.
SLRC, UPFA’s propoganda vehicle
The report says Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) has not initiated action to recover Rs42,649,586 million owed it by “various political parties.” This money is owed for use of airtime during election campaigns. The television channel is chiefly employed by the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance as a propaganda vehicle. COPE does not identify the defaulting parties but states they have deliberately delayed payments. The committee has called for a report to be submitted within two months disclosing the names of political parties along with amounts due.
COPE has identified several cases of public money being wasted on legal issues. This includes spending on construction without first verifying the ownership of lands, a basic criterion that ordinary citizens have no difficulty observing. Thus, the Open University of Sri Lanka has spent nearly Rs19 million to build three regional centres on lands for which ownership is challenged.
Some glaring cases
Here are some excerpts from the report pertaining to individual large-scale enterprises.
State Mortgage & Investment Bank: A large, unspecified amount of loans remain unsettled with a significant number defaulted after the payment of one or two instalments. Profit was Rs312 million in 2005; in 2008, the figure was Rs21 million. Money has been spent on home gardening development--a pet project of the government--contrary to the bank’s objectives.
University of Sri Jayewardenepura: More than Rs3 million spent on initial plans of a waste water refining centre without verifying land ownership. A fund named ‘Vice Chancellor’s Fund’ maintained despite there being no provision for this in the University Act. The roof of the library collapsed but the loss of Rs9.83 million was not recovered from the consultancy firm because officials failed to follow up. Land was bought in Boralesgamuwa to build student accommodation but abandoned because of poor drainage.
Coconut Cultivation Board: The functions of the Coconut Cultivation Board, the Coconut Research Institute and Coconut Development Board overlap.
Ceylon Shipping Corporation: Investments worth Rs47,937,900 cannot be verified because there are no share certificates. The chief administrative officer told COPE the certificates “had been misplaced.”
Paddy Marketing Board: It does not have adequate facilities to store expected bumper harvest.
Janatha Estates Development Board: Ten out of 17 estates running at a loss.
Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation: Excess staff of 329. Loss of Rs727 million incurred in 2009 is displayed as profit of Rs47 million in 2010 financial statements by adjusting with a government grant.
National Institute of Technical Education: A receivable amount of Rs4.9 million continuously brought forward since 2005 without being recovered. Rupees 85,000 spent monthly as rent for official residence of the vice chancellor while the institution’s official residence was rented out to a ministerial officer at Rs4,146 a month.
Ceylon Petroleum Corporation: Large amount of outstanding debtor balances; bank guarantees not been obtained from those institutions. Treasury representative told COPE that cabinet decided to grant a bond of Rs60 billion to CPC to cover the debtor balances from the CEB and other government entities.
National Water Supply and Drainage Board: The total outstanding amount due to be paid to the Treasury as at December 31, 2010 was Rs5.4 billion. Up to June 30, 2011, the Water Board had paid Rs1,100 million to the Treasury. It reached agreement with the Treasury to pay Rs200 million annually to settle the rest. The Water Board has only four professionally qualified accountants.
Ceylon Electricity Board: Outstanding balance of Rs52 billion due to CPC; liability taken over by Treasury. Only two Audit and Management Committee meetings held in 2010 and 2011. COPE observes that in large-scale public enterprises like CEB, such meetings should be held at least once a month. Proper documentation not maintained in respect of transformers handed over to Lanka Transformers Ltd., either for repairs or to be condemned or details of transformers to be returned by CEB to LTL.
University of Peradeniya: There are 173 unanswered audit queries (out of 287) for the period 2008-2011. Rupees12,383,503 paid to three lecturers to follow a post graduate diploma which was not completed by them. Moreover, Rs1,058,048 paid as salaries although they were on no-pay leave. A temporary lecturer was paid Rs1,231,905 without obtaining a security bond and he did not report to the university after overseas study.
A professor obtained salaries and allowances from the university as well as from three other institutions amounting to Rs2,046,016 and Rs1,493,000 for the same period.
Sri Lanka Transport Board: There are around 34,000 employees but only 5,225 buses. Board revenue has increased but expenditure has also risen drastically. There is a loss of Rs5 million per year due to unlimited leave obtained by drivers and conductors. There was an outstanding of Rs11,397,657 due to five depots for special hires and Rs124,809,177 from the Ministry of Disaster Management for providing buses for the transport of internally displaced persons.
Sri Lanka Ports Authority: The estimated total consultancy fee for construction of the Galle Port is Rs978 million. Of this, Rs455.5 million was spent up to the end of 2008 but consultancy services suspended at the moment due to “delay in other works on construction contract.” Except for the Colombo Port, most other ports are running at a loss. The SLPA employs 11,067 people of which 9,700 are deployed in Colombo. Rupees 9,292,676 was spent on repairing the official quarters of a former deputy minister with no connection to the Authority. SLPA has written to the Ministry of Public Administration to reimburse this cost. The debtor balance of shipping agents as at August 30, 2011 was Rs1,595,139,778. Two cranes bought at Rs444 million in 2008 idling even by June 30, 2010. The number of students at Oluvil Nautical Training Institute was less than 20 although it has a staff of 102. SLPA was engaged in several controversial construction projects including the Suriyawewa Cricket Stadium and the Ceremonial Hall at Temple Trees. COPE was informed that SLPA carried out the work on the basis of Cabinet decisions. Sri Lanka Cricket paid the Authority Rs1,200 million for the construction of the cricket ground while for the hall Rs11.9 million was reimbursed out of the total expenditure of Rs35 million.
Development Lotteries Board: Twenty-six motor vehicles hired for a period of four years on an advance payment of Rs24 million contravening financial regulations and without ministry concurrence. The matter is with the Bribery Commission. Procurement procedure not followed in connection with promotional expenditure of Rs17,750,000 in 2009. A sum of Rs6,339,148 paid to officers as attendance and transport allowance without Treasury approval. COPE was informed this was a longstanding practice.
Airport and Aviation Services Ltd: The company has not paid its dues in 2011 for loans obtained.
Mahaweli Authority: One hundred and eighty buildings abandoned without repairs; 204 buildings and official residences remain idle in three regions; 200 and 193 official residencies in Walawa and Welikanda used by unauthorized parties. Eight vehicles were taken out by ministers when their portfolios changed. One was later returned.
National Lotteries Board: Internal audit is carried out by external audit firm. Loss incurred by the board over investment in the online National Lottery Company was Rs983 million. It was written off from the books on a Cabinet decision. No dividends from this investment. The Board prints 50 per cent of lottery tickets through the State Printing Corporation and the rest through a private company.
Ruhuna University: Nine research projects abandoned after spending Rs1,388,590. The Internet Protocol Telephone System installed at a cost of Rs4,375,678 not used so far. COPE was told there was a problem with regard to “the brand and its obsolete condition.”
Land Reforms Commission: Fifteen acres of land in Mirigama leased out for a period of 50 years at rent of Rs7,000,000. According to the agreement entered into in 1995, LRC cannot cancel or take any other step in this matter. COPE has held that the government is deprived of a large income through failure to review the lease agreement. Three acres of land in Homagama leased to a private company without entering into an agreement. The amount to be recovered is Rs2,440,311.
Lanka Logistics Ltd. (under Ministry of Defence): Annual reports are not tabled in parliament and the chief administrative officer has said they are not expected to do so, and that sending them to the Treasury is sufficient. COPE directed the company to table its annual reports in parliament. There is a recoverable amount of Rs1,219 million from the military.
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission: A private company awarded a contract of Rs22.2 million just to prepare a low quality corporate plan. Only one Audit and Management Committee meeting held for 2010 and one for 2011 when four per year are necessary. Total debtor balance as at end of the year is Rs3,154,106,357. Of this, a balance of Rs254,714,539 has remained for a period ranging from two to 19 years.
Road Development Authority and Maga Neguma Companies (under President Rajapaksa’s Ministry of Ports and Highways): They claimed they did not come under the purview of COPE and were not supposed to submit to examination. There was ambiguity over whether the Maga Neguma companies were established purely on a Cabinet decision. A clarification of the legal position of these companies has been sought. It was stated that Maga Neguma companies were given projects without tenders for work of urgent nature, such that it did not exceed five per cent of the total provision received from the government.
Lankaputhra Development Bank (under President Rajapaksa’s Ministry of Finance and Planning): No full time internal auditor. Non-performing loan portfolio of Rs2.3 billion increased up to 55 per cent. Thus, Rs1.3 billion out of this is non-performing.
http://www.lakbimanews.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3760:cope-reveals-giga-corruption-including-mihin-but-to-what-end&catid=35:news-features&Itemid=37
COPE says CID must probe SL Cricket
By Srian Obeyesekere
With the spectrum of an entire nation directed at the country’s richest multi billion financial institution, the Cricket Board, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) going broke by its controversial Rs. 7 billion mess up, speculation was rife that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) may be called in to probe the matter, reliable sources told The Nation yesterday.
Chairman of the Parliamentary COPE committee which investigated expenditure at SLC, Minister D.E.W. Gunasekera, speaking to The Nation yesterday said that it was up to the Sports Minister to call in the CID following the COPE report revelations.
“COPE can only report to Parliament its findings. It is up to the Sports Minister to call in the CID,” said minister Gunasekera.
The cynosure of public concern has been the game’s governing arm following financial misappropriation that has sunk the board’s coffers to a point of not paying a staggering US $ 400 million players salaries, which some quarters fear may have undermined the Sri Lankan team’s form in recent tours.
The mounting scrutiny is in anticipation of a clean cricket administration further fuelled by prospects of holding the long awaited annual hustings at SLC on January 3, 2012 after close to nearly two decades hotting up.
Some of the stark malpractices by the last D.S. de Silva led interim committee include over expenditure on many projects. This includes a Rs. 5 billion overspending on the construction of the Hambantota stadium for which there had been a Rs. 2 to 3 billion over-expenditure, the COPE chairman said adding that his committee had based its probe on the Auditor General’s report.
Another staggering revelation is the granting of a 25-year ownership right of Sri Lanka’s Premier League tournament to a Singapore company without submitting any transaction details and establishing the authenticity of the company.
The tip of the iceberg in denting public opinion of the cricket board came in the wake of a massive world cup ticket racket where thousands of fans openly accused SLC of a mafia operation in selling tickets which deprived a large section of fans depriving from viewing the mega event hosted in the sub-continent.
Meanwhile,SportsMinister,Mahindananda Aluthgamage was not available for comment at the time of the paper going to the press. The SLC has rock-bottomed to a point of surviving on the Rs.100 million government bailout.
http://www.nation.lk/2011/12/04/news15.htm
