Funds available, but not the official approval

An old boy has come forward to fund the renovation of a swimming pool of a national school in Puttalam district now in a state of disrepair.

On being told that the prior approval of a certain Minister was necessary for undertaking the repair work on the swimming pool, the old boy had phoned up the Minister 15 times seeking his approval, but the approval was yet come forth, they say. Every time the Minister is reminded of this request, he would say, “I’ll attend to it today itself,” but he is yet to grant his approval, the old boys say.

Meanwhile, discreet inquiries made by interested parties have revealed that this swimming pool was constructed during the previous regime with the patronage of a Minister of that administration and the Minister now in charge of the subject was not invited to the ceremony held to mark the opening of the pool and they suspect that the latter is dodging his duty in this regard as he is still riding that spite.

The old boys discussing this issue asked themselves the question: “If it is so difficult to get something done with funds made readily available, how difficult would it be to get something done if seeking of funds as well becomes necessary?”