News
UNP to expose what was not reported in COPE report
View(s):Opposition United National Party (UNP) Parliamentarians will hold a media briefing on Tuesday to expose what they called matters not reported or underreported in the COPE report released recently. The Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) headed by Senior Minister D.E.W. Gunasekera last month released its report seen as a ‘strong’ indictment of loss-making public institutions, including the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka.
However at Tuesday’s briefing, likely to be chaired by UNP Leadership Council chairman Karu Jayasuriya, the UNP MPs who served on COPE are expected to flag issues that did not emerge in the report or were discussed but not included in the report, UNP sources said. These issues include the appointment of relatives and friends to key positions, the need to strengthen governance structures and action against corrupt officials.
The sources said the UNP would also demand that an opposition member be appointed to chair the committee, as the UNP-led Government did in 2002, giving COPE a stronger element of independence. The report released last month said the CPC suffered losses amounting to Rs. 94.5 billion (inclusive of losses from the disastrous oil hedging deals exposed exclusively by the Sunday Times), the CEB (Rs. 19 billion), SriLankan Airlines (Rs.17.1 billion) and Mihin Lanka (Rs. 940 million). On the flip side there were public institutions which reported profits in 2011: National Water Supply and Drainage Board (Rs.474.5 million as against a loss of Rs. 5.8 billion in 2010), Ports Authority (Rs. 782 million as against a Rs.1.2 billion loss) and UDA (Rs. 242.5 million as against a Rs.275 million loss), the report said.
The UNP sources said there should be a further recommendation to bar ministers from appointing their relatives and friends to these positions.
Meanwhile a follow-up sub committee appointed by COPE comprising Mahinda Amaraweera, Rajiva Wijesinha and Eran Wickramaratne – held its first meeting recently to discuss the way forward.
This committee is discussing ways of following up on COPE reports and to ensure implementation of key recommendations.