Is this development? - Editorial

The revelations by three parliamentarians, one from the government benches during last week’s Parliamentary debate on the report of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) might have puzzled many as to where the country is economically heading to. Also, people as tax payers have the inalienable right to know as to what happens to their hard-earned monies that are accumulated by the public coffers through various means.
 

One speaker, United National Party (UNP) MP Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe referring to the report he had presented, as the then Chairman of the COPE, in the Parliament on August 24, 2007 stated on Friday that the Bribery Commission had failed to carry out a legislative order for the examination of 16 controversial transactions that resulted in the Government being saddled with a huge loss of some Rs.300 billion. 
 

He also said that in spite of the Parliament having ordered the Bribery Commission to submit progress reports on investigations every fortnight, nothing had been done in this regard. Mr. Rajapakshe lamented that there was not even notification to say that action would be taken with regard to the 16 cases.

On the same day, current COPE Chairman and Senior Minister D.E.W. Gunasekara said he had referred 13 cases identified by him to the Bribery Commission, and the Commission in turn had informed that legal action would be initiated regarding two of these cases. while adding that it was not possible to proceed with legal action on the remaining cases due to lack of substantial evidence.
 

Meanwhile, the Chief Opposition Whip, John Amaratunga had said on the previous day that thirty state institutions had not tabled their 2009 annual reports in Parliament, while nearly 50 institutions had failed to table their annual reports in the House for the year 2010 as at 30.06.2013.
 

There need not be any debate to understand the mismanagement of these public institutions or the ultimate loss and detriment incurred by the country owing to it, as these very revelations speak volumes, and people deal with many of these institutions in their day-to-day activities. However, it is interesting to note that the Parliament has been waiting for the Bribery Commission to act for the past six years, according to Mr. Rajapakshe, while the finding of the COPE in 2007 on the Rs.300 billion loss incurred by the public enterprises has remained unchallenged. And the gravity of the finding could be gauged by a collation of the amount with the total annual revenue of the government, which is around Rs. 1,300 billion.  
 

Much to the bewilderment of the general public, the veteran Communist Party leader D.E.W.Gunasekara says that the Bribery Commission had informed that it was not possible to proceed with legal action on 11 out of 13 cases that he had referred to the Commission due to lack of substantial evidence. Now it is natural for one to expect the COPE to substantiate the validity of its reference of these 11 cases to the Commission.
 

Delays and very long delays in tabling in Parliament the annual reports of many state institutions, as pointed out by the Chief Opposition Whip, have become the normal procedure for decades.  
 

In a situation where even religions have been somewhat politicised, many can split hairs on these matters for months, dividing themselves on political party lines. However, it is the direct and indirect tax-paying populace, meaning each citizen in the country, that has hitherto borne the brunt and will continue to bear it.