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The
rotten teacher Disappearances
of luxury vehicles, questionable purchases of musical instruments,
furniture, computers and textbooks running into millions of rupees
in the Ministry of Education have been revealed in a series of investigations
conducted by the ministry in recent weeks. Of the 100
Ministry vehicles in the pool, only two inter cooler jeeps remain
now. These vehicles had been bought last year to be distributed
among ministry institutions. Former senior
officials had used fake bills as vehicle repair vouchers for some
of these vehicles, investigations have revealed. One officer
had also used ministry vehicles for his wife's driving lessons.
These two vehicles had met with several accidents which had allegedly
been covered up. To avoid paying damages, the officer had issued
a regulation that damages under Rs.10,000 need not be accounted
for. Similarly,
an SLAS Grade II officer who was at the education ministry had two
vehicles for his personal use while his wife and supporters had
been given six Volvos investigations have revealed. For the purchase
of fuel and tyres, altered bills had allegedly been forwarded many
times. Ministry secretary
V.Nanayakkara said investigations were in progress but claimed that
loop holes in the law were preventing the ministry from taking action
against the alleged offenders. He said there
were some cases where officers had filed fundamental rights petitions
in courts when action was taken against them. On a positive
note the secretary said they had taken the only action possible-
the Pensions department was informed not to clear payments to some
officers until inquiries into the frauds were completed. Reports have
also revealed that 15 and 12 vehicles which had been issued to two
former ministers and nine vehicles for two deputy ministers had
been used for election activity during the last elections. It is also
alleged Rs.three million worth of furniture stored at the Paththalegedara
store house had been sold under the guise of distributing it to
schools. Computers and
accessories to the value of Rs.4.4 million had been bought to be
distributed among schools but it is alleged upto 300 of those computers
had not gone to the school. Investigations
have revealed that at the ministry storage centre in Dehiwela millions
worth of musical instruments had been left for moths and dust to
gather. About 350 drums, 250 thammatas, 50 sirpinas, and a load
of agricultural equipment had allegedly been stored for two years
. In addition
fifty harmoniums bought at a cost of Rs.50,000 each were also in
the ill-used bandwagon. As at Dehiwela
large stocks of science and musical equipment are also reported
to be lying poorly stored at Narahenpita. It is also
alleged that the equipment and instruments were of a low quality
apparently because some official or officials made commissions on
them. So bad equipment stored in worse conditions has left it all
useless. Ministry spokesman
Wanninayaka said another racket was in the purchase of 9000 packets
of plaster of paris to be distributed among schools for aesthetic
studies. One official had allegedly made so much money on this deal
that he built three luxury houses in Colombo and bought a luxury
car for his daughter for her wedding. While highly
placed officers were involved in huge frauds those down the line
also made as much as possible. Junior officers are alleged to have
been involved in rackets over school uniforms. Some distributing
officers are alleged to have cutoff and sold two inches from each
five metre piece given to each student. When multiplied by millions
the fraud ran long and wide. As in private
schools, admission frauds or bribes were rampant in public schools.
Some officers are alleged to have taken tens of thousands from parents
to give preferential treatment to their children. Investigators are also searching for Rs. eight lakhs which had been collected from the proceeds of a Ministry lottery last year and had not been accounted for. New
government company to import low-cost drugs The Sunday
Times learns that Minister Ravi Karunanayake - spearheading efforts
to control the cost of living has initiated plans to set up the
State Trading Company (Medical) Limited and has invited some leading
medical specialists to draw up the plans. A spokesperson
said a memorandum of understanding for the new drug importing company
was likely to be finalised within a month. But the Sri
Lanka Medical Association, while fully supporting moves to reduce
the cost of medical drugs has asked why this could not be done through
the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation which has more than 30 years
of experience in the vital field. In a statement
the SLMA said, " Our attention has been drawn to a move to
allow a government agency other than the SPC to undertake parallel
import of drugs in Sri Lanka. The objective of such importation
is apparently to reduce the cost of drugs. The SLMA strongly endorses
any attempt by the government to bring down the price of drugs.
However we
wish to clarify whether such import of drugs would conform to the
concept of parallel imports as advocated by the World Health Organization
(WHO). "The SLMA
has no objection to the implementation of parallel imports as outlined
by the WHO and a copy of the definition of parallel imports is given
here. "If a
manufacturer has patented a product in several countries, he may
for a number of reasons decide to sell it at a different price in
different countries. If the price in country A is substantially
lower than that in country B, an importer in country B may buy the
product at the cheaper price in country A, and sell it in country
B at a price which is lower than the price set by the patent holder.
This is called "parallel importation". The TRIPS Agreement
allows for such importation of products patented in countries other
than the country of origin or the country to which the drug was
imported. This mechanism may be used if the price of the product
is cheaper in other countries than on the local market." "This
clearly states that all drugs imported should also be registered
and we expect that all drugs imported to Sri Lanka would be registered
under the cosmetics Devices & Drugs Act No. 27 of 1980. "Up to
now the SPC has been importing drugs at affordable prices. We are
aware that there have been problems of quality from time to time
but these have been remedied when they arose. The Cosmetics Devices
& Drugs Technical Advisory Committee (CDD-TAC) of the Ministry
of Health has studied this problem and has prepared a document giving
guidelines to deal with quality problems of drugs. We hope that
these recommendations would be implemented. It must be stressed
that what is important is cost effectiveness, hence not only should
a drug have a low unit cost but should be of satisfactory quality
as well. 1. To implement
parallel imports as recommended by the WHO and the Technical Advisory
Committee (CDD-TAC of the Ministry of Health). 2. To designate
the SPC as the sole parallel importer of drugs for the country as
it has had the expertise of importing from 1971, and the Committee
has recommended this. "Our main concern is to ensure efficacy, safety and quality of drugs." Residents
move to save 600 new houses In 1994, BOI
approval had been received for the sale of these lands at Richmond
Place, Mankada Road, Kadawata, though subsequent government plans
to develop a system of alternative trunk roads to handle the increase
of vehicular traffic resulted in plans being drawn up to oust the
owners of these lands. Residents complain
that they were kept in the dark about these development plans and
allowed to construct houses along the proposed route with approval
granted from relevant authorities. Most of these
completed housing units are valued at around Rs. 4 million with
the occupants being mainly government or corporation employees and
several retired persons. The Outer Circular
Highway, a four-lane highway 54.8 km in length with frontage roads
on both sides, will comprise 3.5 metres wide traffic lanes designed
to handle maximum vehicle speeds of 80 kmph. This highway
is to be widened to a six-lane facility in 2020, and will provide
connection to the proposed Colombo-Katunayake Expressway at Kerawalapitiya
and the Southern Highway at Bandaragama. While the highway
bisects Richmond Place, Mankada Road, Kadawata, residents suggested
to the RDA that this area could be avoided, as a neglected stretch
of paddy land from Kadawata to Galwala Junction is available as
an alternate route. The RDA inspected
a sketch of the deviation sent by the residents along with their
proposal and is reported to have considered this sketch satisfactory.
This alternate
route would avoid the demolition of 500-600 houses from Kadawata
to Galwala Junction and the monies to be paid as compensation could
be utilised for the construction of the road through the neglected
paddy area. Residents complain that the compensation packages cannot match the costs of a new house, particularly when bank loans taken for construction are paid back. Strengthen
security in schools Ananda College
Vice Principal R. Ponnamperuma told The Sunday Times he has told
the school security not to allow outsiders into the premises, while
students have been told not to leave the premises. The Principal
of a leading boys' school in Colombo said police officers had come
to the school and instructed authorities to strengthen security.
However, the principals said they had not received any official
instructions from the ministry. Education Ministry
Secretary, V.K. Nanayakkara said they did not send a circular as
the reports they received were unofficial. Therefore only preventive
action could be taken, he said. He said the Minister would be meeting provincial and zonal directors
of education to brief them on the situation. Meanwhile the
Maubima Surekeeme Shishya Viyaparaya which claims to represent the
student population held its first protest meeting calling on the
government to halt moves to divide the country. The President,
Nalinda Jayatissa while denying reports that they were encouraging
school children to come out in protest said the students themselves
roused by patriotic feeling might join them in the future. Although no
official circular has been sent from the Education Ministry, Interior
Minister John Amaratunga told The Sunday Times he had issued a statement
calling on school authorities and parents to ensure that schoolchildren
did not become victims of a situation they little understood the
gravity of. "We saw in 1971 and 1989 how children got involved with some getting arrested or killed in the process," he said. |
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