Columns

One of the issues in Sri Lankan politics that has hogged the headlines in recent times has been the pervasive nature of corruption in governance in the country. More so in the current presidential election campaign where the National People’s Power (NPP) and the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) are strongly pushing the anti-corruption agenda.

There are signs that the public are responding strongly to the call for strong action against the corrupt as well as for measures to prevent or minimise  the recurrence of this phenomena in the future. This springs from the perception among the public that corruption not only diverts scarce resources away from legitimate activity of the government but also has contributed to the economic crisis which was inflicted on the country in 2022.

In fact the Governance Diagnostic Assessment conducted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) highlighted “corruption vulnerabilities” as being a great impediment to good governance and made several specific recommendations designed to address these concerns.

However what is to be noted is that while the Government has taken steps to comply with IMF recommendations and targets on the economic front, it has not worked with the same enthusiasm to deal with issues relating to corruption.

While the Anti-Corruption Act has been enacted the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption (CIABOC) has yet to make an impact in the eyes of the public. Whether this is due to the lack of resources or because of the protracted nature of investigations of offences that come under the purview of CIABOC is not clear.

However there are many recommendations made both by the IMF Governance Diagnostic Assessment as well as by the Civil Society Governance Diagnostic Report that could have been implemented by the Government in the short term  which would have had  an almost immediate impact on the quality of governance.

Some of these relate to

n stopping the acceptance of unsolicited bids and ensuring transparency and calling for open tenders for large projects

n  amending the National Audit Act to enable the Auditor General to levy surcharges on officers, including Chief Accounting Officers, for failure to properly discharge responsibility for oversight and accountability for use of public resources

n enacting and implementing a Public Procurement Law with guidelines that reflects international good practices

n publishing  on a designated website: (i) all public procurement contracts above LKR 1 billion, along with comprehensive information in a searchable format on contract award winners; (ii) a list of all firms receiving tax exemptions through the Board of Investment and the SDP, and an estimation of the value of the tax exemption; and (iii) a list of firms receiving tax exemptions on luxury vehicle import with the information to be updated every six months.

Unfortunately little or no action has been initiated with regard to these recommendations suggesting that there is little political will to pursue the anti corruption agenda vigorously.

Recently the economic think tank Verite Research  in a statement drew attention to the fact  that there was a legal requirement for  large infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka, often funded by foreign loans and grants, to disclose information online when the amount exceeds USD 100,000.

However, according to Verite Research compliance with this law remains poor and in 2024, the government disclosed only 40% of the required information on such projects.

According to Verite Research corruption in public spending is frequently associated with public procurement, and it revealed that the disclosure of procurement-related information for foreign-financed projects was even lower—only 20% of what the law mandates.

What is even more disastrous from the country’s perspective is that the Government itself is going against the IMF and Civil Society recommendations by acting in violations of these suggestions.

For instance the VFS visa fiasco was characterized by the absence of a transparent tender process with the Cabinet itself approving a questionable deal. Equally lacking in transparency  is the questionable Adani Windpower Project which the Government tried to pass off as a Government to Government deal. Finally in the face of Government’s intransigence several citizens had to have recourse to the Supreme Court in order to have an adjudication on these matters.

The Supreme Court has issued an interim order directing the Controller of Immigration and Emigration to suspend the VFS deal and revert to the earlier process overseen by Mobitel until the final determination of the case. But the Department of Immigration and Emmigration has dragged its feet on the matter citing one reason or the other resulting in confusion on the issues of Visas to the country.

Many stakeholders of the Tourism industry and other sectors have urged the Government to resolve the matter but the Government remains adamant and continue to maintain its stance.

Tourism industry leaders including SLAITO President Nishad Wijetunga, THASL President M. Shantikumar,

THASL past President Hiran Cooray and

SLAITO Vice President Nalin Jayasundera   have pointed out that no parliamentary approval is required to reinstate the ETA system, which was in place before 17 April.

“Our only appeal to the Government is to immediately reinstate the ETA system,” he urged, adding that relevant service providers of the ETA system including SLT-Mobitel, Informatics Ltd., and Sampath Bank PLC have all expressed readiness to support the reactivation.

SLAITO Vice President Nalin Jayasundera  questioned the point of launching the Sri Lanka Tourism Global Campaign after 16 years, if tourists were unable to enter the country.

“We are spending billions on this global promotion, but what is the use, if travellers cannot even get a visa to visit?” he asked.

Media reports indicate that already August tourist arrivals have fallen  short of the  monthly target and winter bookings could drop unless the situation is remedied quickly.

Meanwhile other sectors too have been impacted due to Government bungling on the visa issue.

The Free Trade Zone Manufacturers Association (FTZMA) has expressed disappointment with the lack of support from the Board of Investment (BOI) in resolving the issuance of business visas for investors and called for immediate action. The  Secretary General of the National Chamber of Exporters Shiham Marikar has also called on the Government to initiate urgent action to address the visa and passport crisis which is impacting the business community.

The country is currently heavily dependant on the earnings from the Tourism Sector for the economy to stay afloat. The question in everyone’s mind is why the Government would want to risk the progress in this sector particularly in the light of the Supreme Court’s interim order.

Is it that the power of corruption is stronger than the needs of the country and the welfare of 22million of its citizens?

(javidyusuf@gmail.com)