It was revealed at the committee meeting yesterday (07) that the Ridiyagama farm which holds cattle imported in 2015 has incurred a loss of Rs. 173 million in 2017 and 2018.
The Committee pointed out that the purchase of food items worth Rs. 508,793,160 for cattle feeding from 1st October 2017 to 30th September 2018 had been carried out contrary to the approval given by the Procurement Committee.
The Chairman of the Committee Prof. Charitha Herath pointed out that many problems have arisen due to the improper financial activities of the Board.
The COPE Committee instructed the National Livestock Development Board to carry out its functions within the legal framework following proper guidelines.
State Minister Hon. Susil Premajayantha, Members of Parliament Hon. Eran Wickramaratne, Hon. Premnath C. Dolawatte, Hon. Shanakiyan Rasamanickam were present at the COPE Committee meeting conducted to review the Auditor General's reports for the years 2016 and 2017 and the current performance of the National Livestock Development.
The Committee also drew attention towards the Annual Reports of the National Livestock Development Board from 2017 to 2020 not being tabled in Parliament. The Chairman of the Committee pointed out that the inability to table the Annual Reports is a major problem of the institution and directed the secretary to the State Ministry of Livestock and Farm Promotion and Dairy and Eggs Related Industries Mr. S. Senaratne to the expedite submission of the pending reports to Parliament.
The Committee stated that 166 vacancies had been vacant for some time and that action should be taken to fill those vacancies expeditiously. The Committee also expressed its dissatisfaction with the fact that several executive posts have been vacant for several years. The Committee observed that the Board did not have a Legal Officer and said that it was appropriate to create a new post and recruit a Legal Officer.
It was revealed at the committee meeting that by December 31, 2016, buildings worth Rs. 194,565,192 and structures worth Rs. 701,358,733 had been constructed where the ownership of lands belonged to 24 farms maintained by the Board from 1974 and 1992 without any formal acquisition.
The Committee disclosed that 12,617.43 hectares of land is owned together by National Livestock Development Board, Mahaweli Livestock Enterprises Ltd and Sri Lanka Poultry Development Company (Private) Limited where by at the end of May 2019, the Livestock Development Board had 2,266.05 hectares, 9.7 hectares of Mahaweli Livestock Enterprises Ltd and 35.6 hectares Poultry Development Company (Private) Limited adding up to a total area of 2,311.35 hectares which remain to be unutilized land.
The Committee also drew attention to the fact that the machinery capable of producing 3.75 tons of cattle feed owned by the National Livestock Development Board has been in idle for several years.
Given that it was disclosed that the farms of Menikpalama, Dayagama and Ridiyagama, which have imported cattle, are in a situation where they are unable to cover at least the minimum direct cost, the Committee gave a directive to pay immediate attention to this matter.
The COPE chairman instructed the secretary to the State Ministry of Livestock and Farm Promotion and Dairy and Eggs Related Industries Mr. S. Senaratne to make a full review of the performance of the Wellard Project under the Board and to submit a full report to the COPE Committee as soon as possible.
The committee also observed discrepancies in some accounts of the farms owned by the National Livestock Development Board and said those accounts should be re-examined.
Chairman of the National Livestock Development Board Mr. Manjula Magamage and other officials participated in this committee meeting.
The Finance Ministry has released full details of the removal of the suspension on Importation of Motor Vehicles.
In the wake of the ‘outing’ of parliament Speaker Ashoka Ranwala with accusations that his PhD was fake, there has been a flurry of articles on fake degrees.
Leave Comments