Parliament

By Chandani Kirinde Our Lobby Correspondent

Other than the run-of-the-mill debate on the present situation in the north and east, the matter regarding public funds mismanagement based on the much talked about report by the Auditor General’s office released recently came up for discussion last week.

On Thursday the JVP moved an adjournment motion which highlighted the gross mismanagement in handling government tax revenue resulting in large scale losses to the state.

JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti who moved the motion referred to the Rs. 389 billion which the AG’s report says was the amount lost due to tax frauds and non collection of taxes since 2002 to date.

Mr. Handunetti said this amount was six times greater than what the state allocated annually to the education, health and defence sectors.

He said it was nine times greater than the country’s annual health budget and nine times the amount spent annually to pay pensions and 40 times more than what the state annually spends for the samurdhi sector.

“There are many political henchmen who get away with defrauding the state of millions of rupees but if a poor man takes a small loan and fails to pay it back on time, he is put in jail,” the JVP member lamented.

UNP MP Karu Jayasuriya said for too long the shortcomings highlighted in the AG’s reports have been ignored with no remedial action taken.

“The UNP strongly believes the AG’s Department must be an independent body. Legislation for a new Audit Act has been proposed but it has been delayed unnecessarily for several months now,” he said.

However, Government members laid much of the blame for losses in tax revenue on the former UNP regime particularly referring to the tax amnesty as a result of which tax revenue running into millions was lost to the state.

“The UNP is trying to point the finger at us but the tax amnesty granted to its friends was what caused the large revenue losses,” House Leader and senior Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva said.

Deputy Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said the AG’s report would be discussed by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and necessary action taken thereafter.

On Wednesday, a day-long debate was held on the humanitarian crises in the north and east caused by the on going conflict in these areas. Jaffna district TNA MP Mavai Senathirajah moving the motion said the bombing by government forces was the main cause of the food shortage for the people in Jaffna and other areas.

JVP Parliamentary group leader Wimal Weerawansa said the war was thrust upon the government by the LTTE. “You are coming here and warning of dire consequences if the government actions continue and in the same breath you are asking the government to send food. This only shows that the LTTE cannot feed the people however big it talks,” he said.

The UNP blamed the government for the destabilized situation in the country.

“The government is groping in the dark. It has no solutions to any problem,” Kandy district MP Lakshman Kiriella said.

Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa repeated the governments oft repeated claim that there was no war but only retaliatory attacks while Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said the government was forced to take on the LTTE in the face of the group seriously violating the ceasefire agreement.

On Tuesday Parliament approved an amendment to the Immigration and Emigration Act to allow violators of this law to obtain bail more easily.

Those committing offences under the act have been differentiated into two categories with those charged for helping people to leave the country illegally being eligible for bail by the High Court while those apprehended while attempting to go abroad illegally being eligible to make a bail application to the Magistrate’s court.

Previously those violating the emigration law were allowed bail only by the Supreme Court.