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Mihintale project: LECO defies pressure to reject PM’s office donation request
The Lanka Electricity Company (Pvt) Ltd (LECO) Board has unanimously rejected the Rs 275mn donation ordered by the Prime Minister’s office for “development” of the sacred site of Mihintale.
The decision came despite angry strictures from Power and Energy Minister Ravi Karunanayake who has for weeks borne pressure on LECO officials to release the money for a purported corporate social responsibility (CSR) project that has nothing to do with the institution’s mandate.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya (SLNSS) on Wednesday lodged a petition with the Commissioner of Elections against attempts to suck more than quarter of a billion out of LECO in the run-up to a Presidential poll.
The 863-strong union was assured that the Commission was aware of the matter and will take suitable action. The letter was copied to the Auditor General, the LECO Chairman and its Chief Financial Officer, among others.
The effort to take Rs 275mn–many years worth of LECO corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects–in a single instant was first exposed by the Sunday Times. The company is owned by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), the Urban Development Authority (UDA), Treasury and four local authorities.
The Ministry of Finance opposed the initiative saying there was no provision in law to allocate such a large sum to a hand-picked entity, SMI Engineering Company (Pvt) Ltd, without tender, unless under exceptional circumstances.
But Cabinet nevertheless accepted a note from the Prime Minister’s office expressing intentions to take the money from LECO. Its decision read:
“The Cabinet noted the information provided by the Prime Minister that the development of the Mihintale World Heritage Site, its renovation and lighting up could be undertaken as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) Project of the Lanka Electricity Company (Private) Limited under an expenditure of Rs 275 million (without tax).”
The proposal did not come from LECO. CSR projects are usually selected internally based on mutual benefit to the company and beneficiary. Unions were also against the latest bid to siphon out money.
Minister Karunanayake insists that this initiative could be carried out by LECO as a CSR project without burdening the Treasury. By electrifying Mihintale, he told Cabinet, foreign and local tourists would be able to visit the site by night.
In a memorandum to the Cabinet several weeks ago, the Minister also appeared to mislead Ministers by saying: “The Board of Directors of Lanka Electricity Company Private Ltd has granted approval to this task as a corporate social responsibility project.”
The total sum spent on CSR by LECO in the three years from 2015 to 2017 was just Rs 22.1 million—forty percent of what is being sought for a single project.