Columns
COPE exposes for the sake of revealing and little else
View(s):Parliamentary Committee On Public Enterprise (COPE) Chairman, D.E.W. Gunasekera sounded rather optimistic when he presented the second interim report of the Committee to the House on Friday, saying, “It is our view that the COPE has been able to contribute appreciably towards the enhancement of good governance, in so far as public control of finances is concerned.”
While appreciating the hard work undertaken by Minister Gunasekera and other members of the Committee, it seems that, however good the intensions of the Committee are in summoning officials and probing financial irregularities, there is little or no follow up action by those concerned. The reality is that, this report, like previous COPE reports submitted not only under the Chairmanship of Mr. Gunasekera, but also others, have exposed widespread corruption, waste and mismanagement of public finances, those found responsible have gone Scot free.
The infamous hedging transaction, the report said, led to the loss of around US$ 75.3 million. What has been the punitive action so far? A Deputy General Manager who was in office at the time, had been sent on five years compulsory leave, while an inquiry is said to be under way. Most officials who appeared before the committee, when questioned on similar losses, quickly attributed such transactions or loss making projects being the result of Cabinet decisions, and promised to inquire into the matter and submit reports. In most cases the matter rested there.
While it is true that the Committee headed by Mr. Gunasekera has been more regular in presenting reports to Parliament than his predecessors have been, the end result has been far from satisfactory. Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa has now called for suggestions to amend Standing Orders of Parliament so that the powers of this oversight committee can be strengthened, but what is more urgently needed is more legal power to the Auditor General, so that he can initiate legal action against offenders.
While Minister Gunasekera said COPE’s final report for this year is being prepared and would be tabled in the House by the end of the year or early January, just releasing reports is not in any way going to deter those who continue to rob and waste the taxpayer’s money. What MPs on all sides, if they are serious about stopping the downward spiral in this regards, is to push for legislation to impose stringent penalties on offenders, inclusive of powers to recover the losses caused to the State.