The public are listening with interest and shock to the questions and answers emerging from the COPE sessions. COPE and COPA are regarded as the Parliamentary Watchdog.
Members of Parliament sitting on both Committees grill Public Officials questioning their actions, calling for explanations, national policies and even directing the CID to investigate. The irony is that all of these Ministers at some point or the other had been heading the Ministries where discrepancies and irregularities are taking place. So the question is, why are these politicians under whose tenure discrepancies and irregularities took place not questioned for their role too and grilled just like the public officials are? Legal action has to be instituted. If Public Officials are to face legal action so should Ministers. These six months of COPE/COPA findings can extrapolate the scale of corruptions that must have been committed by politicians and public officials since 1978. Every rupee must be recovered from them legally even if it means to acquire their lands/properties. Anyone contracted or any others working for the state who have committed wrong doings must equally be audited and legal actions taken against them. We are waiting for COPE and COPA heads to take this action to the next level. There is little point in grilling officials for public consumption without actions against their conduct.
The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE)
The Committee on Public Accounts (COPA)
COPE 31 members reflecting the party composition in Parliament and was set up by Standing Order 126.
The COPE reports to Parliament on accounts examined, budgets and estimates, financial procedures performance and management of Corporations and other Government Business undertakings.
The Accounts are audited by the Auditor General.
The COPE has powers to summon relevant officials to provide evidence as well as call for documents.
Prof. Charitha Herath was re-appointed as Chairman COPE in February 2022 proposed by Minister Sarath Weerasekera.
Prof. Tissa Vitarana was re-appointed as COPA (Committee on Public Accounts) Chairman proposed by State Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera.
Jagath Pushpakumara was appointed as Chairman Committee on Public Petitions
Feb 11
New Electoral System for Local Government elections
* Select Committee of Parliament to Identify Appropriate Reforms of the Election Laws and Electoral System and recommend amendments
* Holding local government elections under mixed system of first past the post and PR system
* 60 percent representatives via first past the post and 40 percent under proportional system
* Increasing representation of women in local government elections
* Reducing number of existing representatives in local government bodies
* ITN and MTV proposals on electoral system tabled
Nutrient management program for tea cultivation (Ministerial Consultative Committee on Plantations)
Minister Plantations Dr. Ramesh Pathirana claimed chemical fertilizers, shade, water, soil were important to increase tea production.
Tea production had increased by 21million in 2021 despite shortage of chemical fertilizers.
Feb 24
Fauna and Flora Protection (Amendment) Bill approved by Consultative Committee
* The amendment takes into account GSP concession
* Reduce closure of Yala National Part from 2hours to 1 hour during day
* Build a special leopard centre in Polonnaruwa
* Minister instructs to refrain from taking ancestral lands to the forest dept
COPE director Geological Survey and Mines Bureau to pay Royalty to Dept Treasury
* Of Rs.16,591,075,088 collected from 2016-2021 only Rs.8,520,235,812 had been transferred to Treasury.
* Salaries of GSMB Technical Services (Pvt) Ltd above the approved cadre also discussed (why should private staff be taken)
Workers compensation (amendment) Bill for accidents on the job raised to Rs.2m
* Approved by Ministerial Consultative Committee on Labour
Plans to provide fertilizer without shortage (Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage)
* World market increases in price of fertilizer / ban on chemical fertilizer in Sri Lanka resulted in traders selling stocks of fertilizer at higher prices.
March 8
First COPE Report tabled in Parliament
* Inquiries into 12 public enterprises summoned and examined by COPE during 1st session of 9thParliament
* COPE Reports on – ITV, Special Audit Report on Storage and Distribution of Petroleum in Sri Lanka, Coconut Development Authority, Special Audit Report for Studying Present Status of the Field of Foreign Employment, Special Audit Report on the Role of the National Child Protection Authority Regarding Child Abuse in Sri Lanka, Insurance Corporation Limited, Audit Report Regarding the Performance of the Project to Relocate People Living in High Land-Slide Risk Areas in the Kandy District of the Central Province, Report of the Environmental Audit on Import, Use and Post Use Management of Plastic, Lanka Mineral Sands Limited, Postgraduate Institute of Science Affiliated to the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka Cricket and National Livestock Development Board.
March 9
Ministerial Consultative Committee agrees to present Personal Data Protection Bill
Bill intends to provide Regulation of Processing of Personal Data to identify and strengthen Rights of Data Subjects to protect Personal Data
March 11
COPE CHAIR states chaos results when Boards of Public Institutes take decisions
* Auditor General’s Reports of 2017, 2018 reviewed
* Performance of Development Lotteries Board – studio built for Rs.38.75m to record lottery draw programs not used from 2015 as well as status of payment of Rs.2146.82m to Rupavahini for recording lottery draws.
* Lotteries Board officials informed the studio is to be developed into an auditorium while Rupavahini recordings are given on concessionary rates.
* Clearly the project was initiated at the whims of different Chairmans or Board Directors wasting public money without a plan
* COPE highlighted that the Lotteries Board had unilaterally violated agreement to lease building at 234 Vauxhall Street to Ministry of Trade (when Board was under the same Ministry) without recovering Rs.5,700,000 owed to the Board for 14 years
* Allocation of official vehicles for 8 unqualified non-transport owners on 25 May 2015 paying Rs.2,590,545 for fuel and allowances in 2017 & 2018 was also noted by COPE. Officials claimed vehicles were given with approval of Lotteries Board when under Presidential Secretariat. Secretary Ministry of Finance was requested to conduct a formal inquiry
* Unanswered – A cab worth Rs.8,095,000 registered to a driving agency used by a lotteries board chairman in 2008 without approval of board officials is missing since 2008. The lotteries board paid Rs.16,190,000 to the agency for non-payment. The total loss as of 31 Oct 2018 including legal expenses to the Board was Rs.26,634,185.Civil case filed to recover losses – what is the status of this?
March 14
Ministerial Consultative Committee on Foreign approves Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Amendment Bill
* The first reading presented on 10 Feb
* Amendments to be in accordance with determinate of the Supreme Court
COPE asks Marine Environment Protection Authority
* Call to expedite recovery of unpaid Rs.3480m from MY New Diamond shipwreck following shipwreck in September 2020. Rs.12m had been recovered but the estimated value Rs.3480 has not been received. Rs.51.3m has been received for the ship’s fire & oil spill. The delay in the AG’s dept to recover the money was also highlighted.
* Explanation as for 10 year delay in legal action against ship “Thermophile” which sank in 2012 although AG’s dept had been sent all information.
* COPE Chairman directs Marine Environment Protection Authority to expedite amendment of Marine Pollution Prevention Act No 35 of 2008 to strengthen its legal authority as it is responsible to protect marine environment of Sri Lanka
* Compensation for MV X-Press Pearl shipwreck near Port of Colombo in May 2021 also discussed. Amount received was less than value assessed under Civil Liability Act (giving $44m) as only $6m had been received.
823m had gone for cleaning & other activities. Rs.18m was spent on accommodation. COPE instructed to recover from the shipping company and requested a monthly plan with timelines.
* Disposing large quantities of pollutants into Modara & Wellawatte ocean. COPE gives Secretary to Ministry 3 months to report.
March 15
Ministerial Consultative Committee on Lands agree to two regulations pertaining to Land Development Ordinance Section 155 & 156
* Amending Gazette Extraordinary No. 2251/48 of 28th October 2021
* Amending Gazette Extraordinary No. 2266/5 of 07th February 2022
* Amending Gazette Extraordinary No. 2262/50 of 15th January 2022
* Income limits to be considered in issuing licenses & grants of Land Development Order Ordinance of 2014 & Minimum Allocation Limits of Lands Relating to Licenses & Grant Issues under Land Order 115 of 1985.
March 23
Amending Value Added Tax Act No 14 of 2002 approved by Committee on Public Finance
* VAT on financial services increased from 15% to 18% w.e.f 1 January 2022
Medical equipment, machinery and medicines donated to government hospitals and the Ministry of Health during an epidemic or public emergency exempted from Value Added Tax
* Discussions on views of expert committee on Electoral System
* Identify Appropriate Reforms of the Election Laws and the Electoral System and to Recommend Necessary Amendments.
* Decision to seek views of members of expert committee
March 24
COPE claims 47 Individuals obtained Rs.68m worth loans from State Mortgage & Investment Bank in 2017 using forged documents
* Officials said cases had been filed against persons & CID was still investigating
* Disciplinary inquiries against staff also in process
* 2 parties already arrested by CID & one had passed away
March 25
COPA instructs CMC to act after approving proper action plan in line with annual budget
* CMC advised by Committee on Public Accounts to adhere to action plan as per Public Finance Circular No 01/2014 aligned to annual budget.
* Auditor General claims proper action plan for 2020-2021 not approved
* Revenue shortfall of CMC also noted and CMC requested to submit data and statistics on revenue, expenditure, deficit revenue and public assistance
March 29
Educate & Motivate public to take Covid 19 booster vaccine
Public awareness campaigns for booster vaccine underway
April 19
Finance Ministry to look into tax reductions on imported commodities actually benefit the Public
* Committee on Public approves Resolution under the Customs Ordinance (Chapter 235) published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 2262/14 dated 11.01.2022 & presented to Parliament on 05.04.2022.
* COPE requests Finance Ministry to look into whether tax reductions on commodities such as rice being imported actually benefit the public
* Orders under the Special Commodity Levy Act, No. 48 of 2007 published in the gazette Extraordinary Nos. 2255/8, 2259/9, 2260/72 and 2262/15 dated 23.11.2021, 21.12.2021, 31.12.2021 and 11.01.2022 presented to Parliament on 05.04.2022 also considered and approved by the Committee.
April 20
COPA recommends Excise Dept to set up a computer data base system to calculate Excise Revenue by linking Excise Dept, Customs Dept & Inland Revenue
* Above recommendation made by Excise Dept and bids called from the Univ of Moratuwa and Univ of Colombo
* Progress on the sticker management system for liquor bottles & liquor related products to increase govt revenue also discussed. Introduction of sticker management system, revenue of Excise Dept had increased 17% in first 3 months of 2021.
* COPA also highlighted shortcomings including failure to document and maintain information on excise duty reduction on liquor exports
April 21
COPE reveals Building Materials Corporation not prepared financial statements since 2016
* Corporation Officials stated data for 2017, 2018 and 2019 had been deleted due to a computer software problem resulting in no financial statements. Files related to 2017 were lost due to renovation!
* Lack of financial reports financial matters since 2016 could not be discussed by COPE
* COPE recommended CID to investigate
* 500m loan from Bank of Ceylon in 2018 spent on employee salaries
* Only General Manager has permanent post in BMC – others are contract basis. Finance Director has announced resignation but still in service to attend COPE meeting
* Chairman BMC announced resignation on 18 April – but resignation not yet approved by Board & Ministry.
* COPE gives 3 months for financial statements & business plan to be submitted for 2017,2018, 2019.
COPE summons Sri Lankan Airlines again
To explain bidding process for lease of 21 aircrafts
April 25
COPE looks into delay in formulating National Policy on Sri Lanka’s Mineral Resources
* COPE summoned GSMB on 23Feb & resummonded on 21st April
* Report of the Auditor General of the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau for the financial years 2018 and 2019 and its current performance considered
* COPE Chair pointed out that although the Cabinet of Ministers had formulated a National Policy in 2017 and requested for its approval, it has not been formulated & has given 5 months to complete
* failure to collect royalty from licensees for 22094 cubes of Thiruvana excavated from a land belonging to the Forest Department in the Kotikambokka area in Wellawaya and adjacent to it. Officials said that the collection of royalty of these items is done not by the mining license holders but by the export license holders.
* royalty of Rs. 27419690 due for the soil cube and sand cube used in the construction of the Yan oya Reservoir Project had not been recovered from the relevant contractor.
* In 2017, two officers suspended on criminal charges were given half pay, professional allowances, incentives and bonuses for the period of their suspension. They were appointed to the service from August 2019 with the approval of the Board of Directors without a disciplinary inquiry order. Officials present said that action would be taken to recover the money. COPE Chairman recommended the Secretary to the Ministry to conduct a formal inquiry.
* Value added tax not levied on customers in the field inspection revenue collection for the years 2011 to 2014. However, Rs. 93068185 had been paid to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue in the year under review and this had been identified as a loss to the Bureau. COPE recommended responsible officials be identified and appropriate action be taken.
COPE Recommends Sri Lankan Airlines postpones Aircraft Procurement Process to lease 21 aircrafts (2022-2025) for 3 months due to economic situation
* COPE advised the Secretaries to the Ministry of Tourism and the State Ministry of Aviation and Export Zones Development.
* COPE Chairman recommended a procurement guideline be duly prepared and submitted to the Cabinet through the cabinet minister for the relevant procurement as a Cabinet decision.
* Ashok Pathirage, Chairman of SriLankan Airlines and other senior officials pointed out that several aircrafts out of the 24 existing aircrafts will be reduced in near future and that the process would take some time as the acquisition of aircraft cannot be done immediately. Accordingly, considering the relevant market conditions, this process will take between 6-12 months and these activities will be carried out through the Ministry in a more transparent manner,
April 27
Revenue from State-Owned Enterprises to be duly received by Treasury
* COPE Chairman says annual revenue earned by state institutions should be properly received by the State Treasury.
* State Timber Corporation had earned an operating profit of Rs. 1.4 billion (1,496,155,864) for the year 2021, only Rs. 100 million had been transferred to the State Treasury.
* Forest Department had granted approval to the State Timber Corporation on June 30, 2020 for the removal of 28958 pine trees from the Hein ford Estate in Weligampola, Kandy but the trees had not yet been removed.
* Mahindananda Aluthgamage, stated that the State Timber Corporation could earn a huge profit if it could efficiently remove and export the timber recommended by the Forest Department for felling.
* Committee on Public Enterprises on 10th October 2012 had directed action to be taken to amend the Corporation Act to empower the State Timber Corporation to issue a certificate for imported timber, but this has not yet been done.
* The COPE inquired into the write off of Rs. 14.4 million worth of debtors by the Corporation without the approval of the Treasury. The officials said decision was taken by the then Acting Board of Directors in 2007 with the approval of the Corporate Audit and Management Committee.
* The COPE Chairman said that since the Secretary to the Treasury is in charge of the Consolidated Fund for Public Debt, if the debtors are cut off, the Chief Accounting Officer should inform the Secretary to the Treasury and obtain permission.
* The COPE, which met in 2012, directed that the losses at the Kaldemulla Furniture Factory to be increased to profit, but the COPE noted that it was still in a loss-making condition.
* COPE Chairman reason to maintain the relevant institution at such a loss. The Chairman further stated that the furniture outlets owned by the Corporation as a whole have incurred huge losses. The Auditor General stated that the wastage of large quantities of timber in the production of furniture has been observed as a reason for these losses and that by-products of discarded timber can reduce this loss to some extent. Officials said that this was due to the lack of employees with proper knowledge of furniture manufacturing and the need to compete with the private sector in the market. However, it was revealed that the major shortcoming of the State Timber Corporation was not producing furniture. The Chairman instructed the Secretary to the Ministry to send a report within a month on the future course of action to be taken in consultation with the relevant officials.
* COPE noted that two advisors and a driver had been recruited to assist the Chairman of the Corporation in contravention of the circular instructions only with the approval of the Board of Directors. The recruits were paid an allowance of Rs. 2,850 per day for 270 days, a sum of Rs. 769,500, from February 12 to September 3, 2019. Although the approval of the General Treasury was sought for this purpose, it was not received and the COPE Chairman informed the Secretary to the Ministry to take legal action against the relevant Chairperson.
* COPE noted that the corporation had incurred a loss of Rs. 982,473 after reducing the price of items valued at Rs. 1,690,183 by more than 50 percent to Rs. 707,710 and the General Manager of the Corporation stated that this decision was taken due to the fact that the furniture was in a defective condition after being kept for too long without disposal. The Chairman said that if such concessions could be justified, a Board Memorandum should be submitted and the Auditor General’s Department should be informed. Continuded on page 12
May 5
COPE gives People’s Bank 3 months to submit full report on non-performing loans worth Rs.54b given to private sector
* Special inquiry into Rs.402m spent on unutilized Data Warehouse Project launched in 2015. Head of IT appointed by Chairman of People’s Bank who introduced project was a former employee of the company which carried out the project – but without results for the Rs.402m spent. Secretary Ministry of Finance instructed to conduct a formal inquiry.
* Special inquiry on Rs.16.6m worth vehicle purchased on 27 April 2015 used by former GM & transferred at cost of Rs.113,698 when he retired in 2019. (the GM of People’s Bank claims that handing over vehicle used by GM for more than a year was usual practice & value depreciated when transfer done – when did this practice start & by whom)
* COPE chairman recommends Sujeewa Rajapakse, Chairman of People’s Bank to submit a full report within a month on private sector grants Rs.54m worth loans & in non-performing status. Report to include how loan approval was given & persons giving the approval.
* SMEs take much effort to get a bank loan but large sums in billions are given without showing ability to repay or adequately mortgaging property.
* COPE Members (all MPs) pointed out that in the future when loans are given, it should be done in a more systematic manner with a sense of responsibility when handling national wealth (how many of these loans given had a political element to them?)
* COPE also noted that companies owned by Board Directors also given loans and loans transferred to non-performing loan category. As of 31 Dec 2019 this loan amount was Rs.4.2b – CID was investigating.
May 6
COPA focuses on failure to develop formal program to explore oil & natural gas in Mannar Basin
* Auditor General’s reports for 2018, 2019, 2020 discussed on performance of Ministry of Energy
* COPA 2016 – mentioned 5b barrels of fuel & 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in Mannar Basin was sufficient to meet needs for 60 years. These deposits could be used to increase SL’s power supply to 1130kilowatts & natural gas production would bring approx. $200b in various sectors within 25 years
* COPA questioned officials for failure to explore area & plan proper procedure to obtain revenue to SL from various sectors by commercially producing gas from 2 identified deposits.
* Officials claimed difficulty in finding reliable investor for project & added employees of SL Petroleum Development Authority was not sufficient to deal with it
* Modernization & expansion of Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery & construction of enw refinery discussed. Officials presented feasibility study to set up a new oil refinery at Sapugaskanda site. COPA requested report on this
* Vacancies in staff & daily oil requirement of SL also discussed
May 19
COPE summons Litro Gas to look into gas crisis
* Management of Litro Gas Lanka summoned
* Need to expediate gas distribution process
First Report of COPA tabled in Parliament
* Report contains information on investigations of 7 Government Institutions summoned by the Committee on Public Accounts during the period from 04.08.2021 to 19.11.2021 and information on investigations pertaining to one particular audit report.
* Department of Probation and Child Care Services, Department of Co-operative Development, Department of Social Development, Department of Excise, Kurunegala Municipal Council, Department of Immigration and Emigration, Ministry of Environment
* A special audit report on procurement of medical supplies carried out by the Medical Supplies Division of the Ministry of Health Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, dated March 14, 2018.
May 20
Committee on Public Finance decides to summon CBSL Governor, Secretary to Ministry of Finance & other officials to discuss economic crisis & solutions
* Import & Export Control Regulations 6 of 2022 in the Gazette Notification No. 2274/42 dated 09.04.2022 enacted under the Import and Export (Control) Act No. 1 of 1969 approved by Committee on Public Finance
* This gazette notification will save cost importing goods subject to import control licenses
* Gazette Notification No. 2274/42 dated 09.04.2022 issued enacting regulations to impose import control license requirements for the importation of 369 non-essential items. These regulations applicable to the importation of goods shipped on board date of bill of Lading/Airway Bill on or after 10th April 2022.