By Sarah Hannan
The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) commenced its first session on Tuesday (6) under its newly appointed committee chaired by Dr. Charitha Herath, who is also a Member of Parliament appointed through the National List of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).
After a two-and-a-half hour first inquiry, the committee was to meet on Thursday (8) as well. However, due to the Covid-19 cluster that was activated on 3 October, the members had decided to postpone the session to be held during the next parliamentary session on 20 October.
This week, The Sunday Morning spoke to new COPE Chairman Dr. Herath on the challenges that the new committee is facing in conducting inquiries over the state-owned public enterprises and in questioning the irregularities revealed through the Auditor General's reports for the years 2009 to 2016.
The following are excerpts of the interview.
What will be the first batch of public enterprises that would come under scrutiny?
We have issued notices to Lanka Coal Company (Pvt.) Ltd. and have commenced inquiries over their audit reports for the years 2009-2016. For this company, the audit queries are already conducted and the Auditor General’s report was already submitted to Parliament. Based on those documents, we had discussions in our first session on Tuesday.
The Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy, the Chairman of Lanka Coal Company (Pvt.) Ltd., and representatives of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and Ceylon Shipping Corporation were required to attend the inquiry on Tuesday.
During these sessions, concerns were raised and observations were made by the Auditor General’s Department and it was revealed that there was a Rs. 1.1 billion loss that was incurred due to the mismanagement of certain sections of these stakeholder institutions over the span of seven years. Procurements made during 2015 especially came under scrutiny in the Auditor General’s report.
Which institutions will you first pick to follow up on based on the recommendations tabled by the previous committee report published on 21 February 2020?
We will have those follow-up sessions shortly. But before that, the new committee decided that we should take up the special audit reports that were submitted by the Auditor General’s Department up to now, which were not examined.
There are about 31 completed and tabled audit reports that we are deliberating and basing our discussions on at the COPE meetings that are to be held as starting sessions.
In the meantime, we thought that we will convene some of the institutions that were served observations and recommendations by the previous committee which were recorded in the 21 February 2020 COPE report.
Is the committee working on clearing the backlog of audits that have piled up for most of the state enterprises? Some have last been audited in 2015.
All state-owned public corporations that are overseen by COPE will look into the institutions that have not submitted their audit reports in a timely manner. The Auditor General’s Department, up until now, tabled all the audit reports that are available to them and have submitted it to COPE for deliberations and recommendations.
COPE cannot start an inquiry over a state institution if the audit report is not tabled. There cannot be incidents where some state institutions have evaded a government auditor and have not conducted an audit using an independent audit firm.
The missing audit reports can also be from institutions that are not operating at present, as there are many state corporations and institutions that are listed but have ceased their operations following the 1977 Open Economy.
Are you aware that some state corporations have not published their annual reports over the recent years?
I am not aware of such incidents but if there are state institutions that have failed to compile or publish their annual reports, it is of grave concern, and COPE will instruct the Auditor General’s Department to look into such institutions.
Even if the audit or annual reports are missing, certain institutions will still be called in for COPE sessions for inquiries. For instance, the Lanka Puwath news agency is currently non-operational, but it is still coming up on our records.
What are the challenges that you see for your team in having to probe certain institutions?
Every government that gets elected follows different management models to administrate the state institutions. Some governments followed the procurement guidelines and the regulatory frameworks, but some decided not to follow the due process.
The challenge that is upon this committee is to inform and educate these officials at these public institutions that they are just governing an asset that belongs to the public.
Moreover, getting the true facts about these institutions into the observations is imperative, as sometimes due to the technicalities that are involved in certain institutional procedures in preparing documentation, some malpractices can be covered up. We refer to that as “technical terrorism”; the use of jargon and technical terms that are not explained in layman terms in their documentations that are submitted – the Auditor General’s Department officials at times might not understand the technical terms that are mentioned in the reports that are submitted by the institutions which becomes a challenge when they are auditing the institutions for compliance.
The lack of support that a newly appointed COPE is afforded by the state institutions in order to unveil the matters is another challenge that the committee faces.
Furthermore, the existing legality of COPE and the powers that are vested in the committee by the Parliament to take action over some of the observations that were presented during the sessions can greatly hinder the proceedings and their outcome.
The most pressing issue originates within COPE itself, as getting one collective voice from the committee that comprises members from different political parties holding different political opinions is the biggest challenge. These parliamentarians need to understand that this is a common committee that is inquiring over the state enterprises on behalf of the people that appointed them to office.
How are you planning to overcome the challenges?
I am trying to be impartial and I am striving to pass judgements that are ruled by facts over judgements passed by emotions.
As the Chairman of COPE, I am accountable to the people of Sri Lanka and I have a duty to report back to the public the proceedings of the committee meetings, as it is, and how the institutions are governed by the incumbent authorities and previous authorities.
Heading and reporting the proceedings to the public in a transparent manner can mitigate these various challenges that I have to face as the Chairman.
As I said earlier, we do not have a legal framework in place to impose penalties to the institutions that have not been diligent in their reporting. Despite that, as a committee, we are able to share the findings, observations, and recommendations that we have given to the said institutions with the public, who will ensure that they are held accountable for their wrongdoings.
What are your thoughts on opening the meeting proceedings to the media?
Let me set the record straight right now by saying that COPE at no point announced such a decision. It was purely speculation which was misinterpreted over a discussion which took place at the Committee on the Business of the House which consists of the party leaders. That committee suggested that they should relook at the media publicity arrangements of the Parliament and had nothing to do with COPE or COPA proceedings.
The first session was telecasted live and was opened to the media on Tuesday.
Is there a chance that personnel that are subjected to inquiries can get unnecessarily targeted due to this?
Actually, that was one concern that our committee had, and we have discussed this at length and have requested the committee members of COPE to be vigilant about the individuals, institution representatives, or heads who attend COPE sessions for inquiries.
The committee has been advised not to target these representatives who are in fact holding incumbent positions in these state institutions, and the matter in question might not be an issue that was created by their misdeeds.
It is unfair for the representatives that appear at COPE sessions to face such positions of unease for delays that were not caused by them but rather by the previous heads and representatives of that institution.
We are therefore not going to penalise the state officials who have now come before the committee to respond to the ongoing inquiries, for which COPE is given powers to openly question and report to the public with the media’s support.
I have a responsibility to maintain that rapport and allow the committee members to talk, but not to make any critical remarks that would tarnish their reputation as officers of the State.
You are essentially questioning the previous Government’s work through COPE and their expenditures and governance. How will you ensure that the proceedings are conducted in an unbiased manner?
The committee members cannot raise objections when the proceedings are ongoing. However, they are allowed to raise their concerns with me. Anyone is free to ask questions and the freedom to question was given with the understanding that they are not going to misuse the opportunity to cause any disruption to the proceedings.
In your first meeting, you were very focused on the energy and power sector, especially the coal power plant in Norochcholai and the emergency power purchases. Were you given sufficient information by the Opposition to proceed and conduct a transparent inquiry?
We were given all the information required to conduct our first session and the inquiry that was carried out was quite substantive which allowed us to have a lengthy discussion.
What elements do you think COPE proceedings are lacking and how will you improve them?
At the moment, we are discussing the possibilities of sharing the sessions on social media platforms to engage a larger audience.
Moreover, we are suggesting that the relevant authorities, such as the secretaries or the chairmen that appear at the sessions, follow the directions that are given by the committee and to report their progress within the given timeline, which will enable COPE to expedite the proceedings and identify the bottlenecks.
Finally, there are several regulatory issues that we plan to rectify and impose strict deadlines on, which the attendees will have to adhere to, so that the decisions could be reached in a timely manner.Technical terrorism hindering COPE: Dr. Charitha Herath
11 Oct 2020
Technical terrorism hindering COPE: Dr. Charitha Herath
11 Oct 2020
By Sarah Hannan
The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) commenced its first session on Tuesday (6) under its newly appointed committee chaired by Dr. Charitha Herath, who is also a Member of Parliament appointed through the National List of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).
After a two-and-a-half hour first inquiry, the committee was to meet on Thursday (8) as well. However, due to the Covid-19 cluster that was activated on 3 October, the members had decided to postpone the session to be held during the next parliamentary session on 20 October.
This week, The Sunday Morning spoke to new COPE Chairman Dr. Herath on the challenges that the new committee is facing in conducting inquiries over the state-owned public enterprises and in questioning the irregularities revealed through the Auditor General's reports for the years 2009 to 2016.
The following are excerpts of the interview.
What will be the first batch of public enterprises that would come under scrutiny?
We have issued notices to Lanka Coal Company (Pvt.) Ltd. and have commenced inquiries over their audit reports for the years 2009-2016. For this company, the audit queries are already conducted and the Auditor General’s report was already submitted to Parliament. Based on those documents, we had discussions in our first session on Tuesday.
The Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy, the Chairman of Lanka Coal Company (Pvt.) Ltd., and representatives of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and Ceylon Shipping Corporation were required to attend the inquiry on Tuesday.
During these sessions, concerns were raised and observations were made by the Auditor General’s Department and it was revealed that there was a Rs. 1.1 billion loss that was incurred due to the mismanagement of certain sections of these stakeholder institutions over the span of seven years. Procurements made during 2015 especially came under scrutiny in the Auditor General’s report.
Which institutions will you first pick to follow up on based on the recommendations tabled by the previous committee report published on 21 February 2020?
We will have those follow-up sessions shortly. But before that, the new committee decided that we should take up the special audit reports that were submitted by the Auditor General’s Department up to now, which were not examined.
There are about 31 completed and tabled audit reports that we are deliberating and basing our discussions on at the COPE meetings that are to be held as starting sessions.
In the meantime, we thought that we will convene some of the institutions that were served observations and recommendations by the previous committee which were recorded in the 21 February 2020 COPE report.
Is the committee working on clearing the backlog of audits that have piled up for most of the state enterprises? Some have last been audited in 2015.
All state-owned public corporations that are overseen by COPE will look into the institutions that have not submitted their audit reports in a timely manner. The Auditor General’s Department, up until now, tabled all the audit reports that are available to them and have submitted it to COPE for deliberations and recommendations.
COPE cannot start an inquiry over a state institution if the audit report is not tabled. There cannot be incidents where some state institutions have evaded a government auditor and have not conducted an audit using an independent audit firm.
The missing audit reports can also be from institutions that are not operating at present, as there are many state corporations and institutions that are listed but have ceased their operations following the 1977 Open Economy.
Are you aware that some state corporations have not published their annual reports over the recent years?
I am not aware of such incidents but if there are state institutions that have failed to compile or publish their annual reports, it is of grave concern, and COPE will instruct the Auditor General’s Department to look into such institutions.
Even if the audit or annual reports are missing, certain institutions will still be called in for COPE sessions for inquiries. For instance, the Lanka Puwath news agency is currently non-operational, but it is still coming up on our records.
What are the challenges that you see for your team in having to probe certain institutions?
Every government that gets elected follows different management models to administrate the state institutions. Some governments followed the procurement guidelines and the regulatory frameworks, but some decided not to follow the due process.
The challenge that is upon this committee is to inform and educate these officials at these public institutions that they are just governing an asset that belongs to the public.
Moreover, getting the true facts about these institutions into the observations is imperative, as sometimes due to the technicalities that are involved in certain institutional procedures in preparing documentation, some malpractices can be covered up. We refer to that as “technical terrorism”; the use of jargon and technical terms that are not explained in layman terms in their documentations that are submitted – the Auditor General’s Department officials at times might not understand the technical terms that are mentioned in the reports that are submitted by the institutions which becomes a challenge when they are auditing the institutions for compliance.
The lack of support that a newly appointed COPE is afforded by the state institutions in order to unveil the matters is another challenge that the committee faces.
Furthermore, the existing legality of COPE and the powers that are vested in the committee by the Parliament to take action over some of the observations that were presented during the sessions can greatly hinder the proceedings and their outcome.
The most pressing issue originates within COPE itself, as getting one collective voice from the committee that comprises members from different political parties holding different political opinions is the biggest challenge. These parliamentarians need to understand that this is a common committee that is inquiring over the state enterprises on behalf of the people that appointed them to office.
How are you planning to overcome the challenges?
I am trying to be impartial and I am striving to pass judgements that are ruled by facts over judgements passed by emotions.
As the Chairman of COPE, I am accountable to the people of Sri Lanka and I have a duty to report back to the public the proceedings of the committee meetings, as it is, and how the institutions are governed by the incumbent authorities and previous authorities.
Heading and reporting the proceedings to the public in a transparent manner can mitigate these various challenges that I have to face as the Chairman.
As I said earlier, we do not have a legal framework in place to impose penalties to the institutions that have not been diligent in their reporting. Despite that, as a committee, we are able to share the findings, observations, and recommendations that we have given to the said institutions with the public, who will ensure that they are held accountable for their wrongdoings.
What are your thoughts on opening the meeting proceedings to the media?
Let me set the record straight right now by saying that COPE at no point announced such a decision. It was purely speculation which was misinterpreted over a discussion which took place at the Committee on the Business of the House which consists of the party leaders. That committee suggested that they should relook at the media publicity arrangements of the Parliament and had nothing to do with COPE or COPA proceedings.
The first session was telecasted live and was opened to the media on Tuesday.
Is there a chance that personnel that are subjected to inquiries can get unnecessarily targeted due to this?
Actually, that was one concern that our committee had, and we have discussed this at length and have requested the committee members of COPE to be vigilant about the individuals, institution representatives, or heads who attend COPE sessions for inquiries.
The committee has been advised not to target these representatives who are in fact holding incumbent positions in these state institutions, and the matter in question might not be an issue that was created by their misdeeds.
It is unfair for the representatives that appear at COPE sessions to face such positions of unease for delays that were not caused by them but rather by the previous heads and representatives of that institution.
We are therefore not going to penalise the state officials who have now come before the committee to respond to the ongoing inquiries, for which COPE is given powers to openly question and report to the public with the media’s support.
I have a responsibility to maintain that rapport and allow the committee members to talk, but not to make any critical remarks that would tarnish their reputation as officers of the State.
You are essentially questioning the previous Government’s work through COPE and their expenditures and governance. How will you ensure that the proceedings are conducted in an unbiased manner?
The committee members cannot raise objections when the proceedings are ongoing. However, they are allowed to raise their concerns with me. Anyone is free to ask questions and the freedom to question was given with the understanding that they are not going to misuse the opportunity to cause any disruption to the proceedings.
In your first meeting, you were very focused on the energy and power sector, especially the coal power plant in Norochcholai and the emergency power purchases. Were you given sufficient information by the Opposition to proceed and conduct a transparent inquiry?
We were given all the information required to conduct our first session and the inquiry that was carried out was quite substantive which allowed us to have a lengthy discussion.
What elements do you think COPE proceedings are lacking and how will you improve them?
At the moment, we are discussing the possibilities of sharing the sessions on social media platforms to engage a larger audience.
Moreover, we are suggesting that the relevant authorities, such as the secretaries or the chairmen that appear at the sessions, follow the directions that are given by the committee and to report their progress within the given timeline, which will enable COPE to expedite the proceedings and identify the bottlenecks.
Finally, there are several regulatory issues that we plan to rectify and impose strict deadlines on, which the attendees will have to adhere to, so that the decisions could be reached in a timely manner.Kapruka
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Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!