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COPE
faults top state enterprises In its report submitted to Parliament earlier this month, COPE submitted its findings on 15 institutions whose audit and performance reports were probed by the Committee, with the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) being among them. The Committee observed that the CPC is presently facing a heavy debt burden and despite being the largest importer in the country, it does not have a Treasury Manager and there is no exchange risk management. The report said the exchange loss in the year 2003 amounts to around two billion rupees and said that the ineffectiveness of the CPC has given the Lanka Indian Oil Company an undue advantage to capture the market. It said heavy investments have been made in the construction of the Muthurajawela Tank Farm facility without proper assessment of the requirements and it has not been put to use as yet, becoming a white elephant. The other deficiencies noted were the lack of professionalism in the board and in senior management positions, serious irregularities in the re-employment of staff who have been sacked for producing false educational qualifications and poor utilisation of funds for development and rehabilitation of oil tanks. In the SLPA as well, the Committee observed serious irregularities and waste among them being the expenditure of three billion rupees for the construction of the northern pier which is inoperative and the preparation of financial statements without adjusting for foreign exchange losses. The Committee also expressed concern about the status of the agreement between the SLPA and SAGT and said after the signing of the agreement between the two relating to the transfer of cranes to the value of US $ 7 million, the Authority had received ordinary shares only to half the value, with the value still in dispute. The report also said the composition of the board of directors was not in compliance with statutory requirements and public enterprise guidelines of good governance. The board has five executive directors out of nine whereas it is empowered to appoint only a chairman, a vice-chairman and managing director. As for the CEB, the COPE report said it is facing a severe financial crisis as a result of huge long-term and short-term debts but it has however recruited a considerable number of employees during the year 2004. Eleven CEB vehicles have been released to the Ministry violating public enterprise guidelines and at present the whereabouts of 12 vehicles are still unknown, the report added. The Committee has recommended that both the CPC and the CEB carry out an effective cadre review and cut down on excess staff. The other enterprises that were examined and had similar shortcoming were the Foreign Employment Bureau, the National Housing Development Authority, the Tourist Board, the Road Development Authority, the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation, the Ceylon Fertiliser Corporation Ltd, the State Timber Corporation, the Public Enterprises Reform Commission, the Co-operative Wholesale Establishment, the Ceylon Hotels Corporation and the Sri Jayawardenepura General Hospital. The Committee nominated in September 2004 was headed by Advanced Technology and National Enterprise Development Minister Rohitha Bogollagama and consisted 19 members drawn from all parties represented in Parliament. The Committee began sittings in October 2004 and met on 39 occasions to examine these enterprises. |
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