CB and ‘qualified’ 2011 EPF accounts
The audited accounts of the EPF for the year 2011 were presented to Parliament on 21st May 2014. Firstly, it is deplorable that a fund with nearly Rs. 1.3 trillion belonging to nearly 2.3 million employees mostly in the private sector took three years to submit accounts to Parliament as required by law. This colossal fund built with the contributions of the employees over the years and one of the largest in this region of Asia was not able to produce these accounts in due time. Now what about 2012 and 2013 accounts?
Secondly, it is all the more appalling that the Fund, managed by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, has received a ‘qualified certificate ‘ from the Auditor General since some of the transactions were not supported by documentation. Fund managers have engaged in irregular investments and failed to answer audit queries. When a company or an institution receives a ‘qualified certificate’ from its auditor, it reflects that the accounts are bad and unacceptable.
So when the fund manager, the Central Bank produces a bad set of accounts, jeopardizing the contributions of poor employees, how can one expect it to act as Regulator of banks and finance companies? Can one trust the Central Bank after this?
It is also reported that the disbursements of the fund to retiring employees may be done on ‘annuity’ basis, i.e. in installments because the Government may not be in a position to make lump sum payments in the not too distant future to the retiring employees due to depletion of EPF funds and laws to this effect are understood to be in the draft stage.
One cannot but believe that this is another severe blow to the poor private sector employees who have dreams and plans to fulfill after contributing from their monthly salaries over a lifetime of their employment through hard sweat and toil.
The media should draw the attention of all concerned people to this imminent threat and predicament of employees and should be resisted at all costs.
T. Mallawatantri
(via email)