Amid charges about the dismal financial performance at various state institutions, the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)  of Parliament will meet the Ministry Secretaries on January 17 to discuss such issues, a senior minister said yesterday.
 
COPE Chairman Minister D. E. W. Gunasekara told the Daily Mirror that the Ministry Secretaries who are also  the chief accounting officers would be apprised of steps to be taken for the meaningful use of public finances.
 
Also, he said that he would discuss how the recommendations made by the COPE should be implemented in this respect.  He said that the COPE submitted its report to Parliament on December 2, 2011 revealing the financial performance at 229 state institutions.
 
Asked about the charges that the Auditor General had provided misleading information to the COPE, he said that the Auditor General does not act normally in his own when compiling reports.
 
“It is a collective effort. Those who hurl abuses at him should also have been involved in the compilation of such reports sent to the COPE,” he said.
 
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs also conducted a workshop on December 29, 2011 for the Secretaries, additional secretaries and other top officials of the Ministries about matters pertaining to public finances and law making.
 
Minister Mrs. Sumedha G. Jayasena said there are inordinate delays in drafting bills and sending reports to Parliament by the Ministries, and the workshop was meant to educate top officials about such issues. (Kelum Bandara)