Professionals for good governance call on the President not to repeat previous regime’s mistakes
View(s):A group of Sri Lankan professionals looking forward to good governance expressed their dismay on the new government’s stance of adopting the same practices of the ousted Rajapaksa regime like unsolicited bids for some investment projects ignoring local expertise. In letter to President Maithripala Sirisena under the signatures of Prof. Lalithasiri Gunaruwan, Prof Amal Kumarage and Prof. Sarath Wijesuriya on behalf of 24 professionals in the country, it was stated that the present government headed by the President has no legitimate right to make the same mistakes of the previous regime. They noted that due diligence in public investment is an imperative for a capital resource depleted and heavily indebted economy.
More the reason why extreme care is important to ensure maximum capital efficiency (or capital productivity) when investing in projects. Therefore it is important to resort to a national economic strategy and the possible opportunity should be made available for local enterprise to benefit from domestic development needs, professionals emphasised adding that competitive procurement be strictly adhered to in order to secure economic benefits of obtaining the techno-economically best offer at the most competitive cost and to minimise room for corruption, wastage and mismanagement. They noted that projects appear to be offered on negotiated basis with no tenders and being funded through bi-lateral credit which were expensive and which carried unfavourable terms.
These professionals have brought to the notice of the President that attempts seem to be continuing to resort to bilateral credit from India and China depriving the national economy of all advantages of local construction and competitive procurement. It has been revealed that contracts to construct central express highway project is to be given to foreign companies without following open and transparent tender procedures. A similar situation is said to have been arisen in the construction of Sampur Power Project amidst protests of CEB trade unions. Several water supply schemes of the water supply and drainage board are to be given to contractors without calling tenders.
If these news have any base, it will be pathetic that a Government which came into power over a campaign which precisely was argued on these very grounds now resort to same condemned practices, they said. They appealed to the president that public investment projects are undertaken in such a manner that those are implemented, to the maximum extent, through the relevant Governmet departments/agencies or, if not possible, through local private sector, so that maximum economic mulitiplier effects could be secured by the local economy. The President has also been urged to make policy decisions to this effect, and also to ensure that any procurement/contract which cannot be sourced from within the local economy for whatever reason shall be imperatively procured through transparent international competitive bidding procedure.