News
Speaker to introduce rules to prevent misuse of Parliament’s vehicles, fuel and resources
View(s):By Ranjith Padmasiri
Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne has decided to introduce limits on the use of vehicles, fuel and property by Parliament’s senior officials after an inquiry uncovered widespread abuse of these privileges over the past 10 years.
The inquiry’s findings are to be submitted to Parliament’s Staff Advisory Committee chaired by the Speaker with a view to introducing regulations governing the usage of Parliament’s vehicles, fuel and property, the Speaker told the Sunday Times yesterday.
The Speaker said he is taking these steps to stamp out fraud and corruption within Parliament.
The inquiry had looked into the usage of vehicles, fuel obtained for these vehicles and the use of other property belonging to Parliament by Speakers, Deputy Speakers, Deputy Chairpersons of Committees, Secretary Generals of Parliament, Deputy Secretary Generals, Assistant Secretary Generals and other senior executive officials who served in these positions in the legislature over the past decade.
The inquiry was launched following revelations made in Parliament recently by House Leader Bimal Rathnayake.
An investigation has found that one senior Parliament official, who had been assigned an official vehicle by Parliament, had used three vehicles belonging to Parliament for his personal use. One of these vehicles had been kept in Batticaloa for a long period. It has been found that some other senior officials have also used official vehicles assigned to them for personal use.
The Speaker also noted that it has become necessary to impose limits on the usage of fuel for Parliament’s official vehicles as some officials had abused the privilege to obtain fuel on an unlimited basis for their vehicles for personal use.
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