Columns

It was not for nothing that an anonymous writer once did say, there was never a dull moment in this resplendent isle. Never has it been more true than in current times. The news headlines keep changing so rapidly that one is hardly able to digest some incredible story before an even stranger one emerges.

A sugar scam which cost the national revenue a loss of R. 16 billion was followed by the revelation that coconut oil containing cancer causing Aflatoxins has been released to the market on the eve of the Sinhala and Tamil  New Year–the period where coconut oil is in high demand for making festive delicacies.

In the middle of this comes Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith’s threat to take to the streets if sufficient progress is not shown with regard to the investigation into the  Easter Sunday attacks and the identification of the master mind behind the heinous attacks.

The Government responds by naming a so far insignificant Naufer Maulavi as the mastermind but there are few takers for the Government’s ‘selection’ of the mastermind.

At the same time, widespread destruction of the country’s forests goes on unabated. The latest ‘breaking news’ is the unprecedented  resolution presented to Parliament to undo legal proceedings against several high profile Government bigwigs as well as the controversial Port City Bill being placed on the Legislature’s order paper and the subsequent spat between Parliamentarian Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and  President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

While all these are grabbing the headlines, an important news item which reflects the way the country’s finances have been managed has escaped the people’s attention.

On April 2021, the Sunday Times reported that the Sri Lankan Government had paid a sum of US dollars 6.5 million in 2014 to an American businessman to build Sri Lanka’s failing image in the United States. Quoting from an investigative report in the Wall Street Journal the  Sunday Times revealed that the businessman Imaad Zubeiri, had been jailed for 12 years after pleading guilty to tax evasion, foreign-influence peddling and campaign finance violations.

The report also revealed that Mr. Zubeiri who had been working for the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for more than a decade, had spent US$ 5.6 million or 87 percent of Sri Lankan taxpayers money on himself and his wife.

The fact that the Sri Lankan Government of the day had engaged Mr. Zubeiri, who posed as a lobbyist, was first exclusively exposed by the Sunday Times in July 2014.  The payments to Mr. Zubeiri were so covertly done that neither the Cabinet nor the Parliament knew the funds were being channeled through the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to avoid oversight by the Cabinet and the Parliament.

In 2014, the Sunday Times had revealed that billions of rupees were being  channeled into public relations firms and lobby groups, particularly in 2014. During the period between 2008 and 2014, Sri Lanka’s Mission in Washington, The External Affairs Ministry Office for Monitoring Members of Parliament and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka had numerous so called lobbyists and public relations companies on their payroll.

Several governance related issues arise with regard to the hiring of Mr. Zubeiri and others to raise Sri Lanka’s profile in the United States. None of their efforts, if any, succeeded in Sri Lanka being more positively looked at by US lawmakers or officials. There were no tangible benefits to the country despite the massive amounts of money paid to these various individuals and  firms.

Yet no one has been held accountable for resorting to these so called lobbyists for carrying out the traditional functions of the Sri Lankan Foreign service nor for spending such large sums of money without authorised approvals.

Why could not the Sri Lankan Mission in Washington handle these tasks when heads of past missions had done so with great skill and acceptance? What was the role of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington during that period, and was it an admission that they were not up to the task?

If it was for some reason, deemed to be in the National Interest, that such firms and individuals had to be hired, was due diligence exercised before they were hired? The case of Imaad Zubeiri suggests that it was not.

The preferred channel of payments for these so called  lobbyists was the Central  Bank as their accounts are not subject to Parliamentary oversight.

At present, it is evident the lack of due diligence continues. One wonders whether the Government has checked out the Adani group’s credentials before engaging with them on the Colombo Port’s East and West Container terminals. More so because in India itself there is a huge controversy about its track record.

If one traces the origin of the economic troubles faced by the country today  it can be sourced to construction of vanity projects like the Hambantota Harbour, Mattala Airport and the Lotus Tower project to name a few. It is very apparent that huge sums of money were taken as loans without exercising due diligence  and making a proper assessment of the ability of these projects to generate income from these projects to help  pay back the huge loans.

It seems over the years the Government seems to be adopting a casual approach to financial management. So long as the Treasury has the funds even if they are borrowed funds, it will incur any expenditure that it chooses without worrying too much about the capacity to generate funds for repayment.

The latest example is the recent interaction between Parliamentarian S. B. Dissanayake and the Chief Incumbent of the Getambe Rajovapavanaramaya Ven. Kappetiyagoda Siriwimala on the occasion of the Chief Incumbent’s 90th Birth anniversary.

In response to criticisms of the Government, Mr. Dissanayake has told the senior monk:  “China has told us to take whatever money we need and give it back whenever we can. The Government has been given a clear message from China that they can give us any amount of money we need, returnable when the country can do so.”

Since Mr. Dissanayake is a senior Parliamentarian we can believe him as he must know what is happening in the Government.

(javidyusuf@gmail.com)