COPE has no mandate to probe SLT, says outgoing CEO
View(s):Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) has submitted its financial statements, documents on staff promotions and recruitments, details of recent procurements and its tender procedure to the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) although COPE has no mandate to probe into company activities, outgoing SLT CEO Greg Young said.
“We are a listed company in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and all our deals are transparent and everything is made known to CSE enabling it to create awareness among stakeholders,” he added. Earlier former COPE Chairman and MP Wijedasa Rajapaksa said the committee doesn’t have any authority to scrutinise organisations like SLT, Sri Lankan Airlines, etc.
Mr Young told the Business Times that the main function of COPE is to look into the accounts and performance of government corporations and government institutions where the government is the major shareholder even though it cannot punish anyone.
Finance Ministry sources said that though there are government nominees on the boards of companies like SriLankan Airlines and SLT, they are either inactive in the decision-making process or have little authority. The top management of SLT including himself has made representations before COPE heeding to its request made on a complaint lodged by Telecommunication Engineers Union (TEU), Mr Young said. Rejecting union allegations, he disclosed that the SLT management has not changed the institution structure in accordance with his needs, and this was brought to the notice of COPE.
He said that he served the company without violating state policy, following
SLT board directives in a transparent manner. Meanwhile the TEU has sent a letter to the President urging him to initiate investigation through the Special Presidential Investigation unit on corruption and malpractices during the tenure of Mr Young as well as to probe into his assets earned during his stay in Sri Lanka.
The union has urged the president to take action preventing him from becoming a director of SLT, as a nominee of Maxis Malaysia, which has a sizable stake in SLT.
Mr. Young vehemently denied these allegations saying that he is ready to face any probe as he has worked ‘unflinching throughout the last four years in the best interest of the company and all stake holders without bowing to political pressure’.
Follow @timesonlinelk
comments powered by Disqus