• Claims dept. under a fmr. AG had ‘failed’ to carry out critical CEB audits over ‘conflict of interest’ 
• Charges in letter addressed to COPE/CIABOC/MPs that ‘massive’ financial losses resulted 

The Electricity Consumers’ Association (ECA) has claimed that the Auditor General’s (AG) Department had, under a former Auditor General, failed to carry out several critical audits related to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), resulting in massive financial losses to the country.

In a letter addressed to the Auditor General's Department, the Opposition Leader's Office, the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), and all Parliamentarians, the ECA General Secretary, Sanjeewa Dhammika accused a former Auditor General, who recently retired, of neglecting audits of national importance. "An independent audit is required to be conducted on the process of purchasing electricity under the Sri Lanka Electricity Act, No. 20 of 2009. This audit is mandated to ensure that electricity is purchased based on a merit-based system, at the lowest possible cost. With the CEB spending over Rs. 200 billion annually on power purchases, it is the responsibility of the National Audit Office (NAO) to verify whether these transactions were made in line with the law by conducting an audit. However, it was not done during the former Auditor General's tenure, reportedly due to a conflict of interest, as his wife was holding a privileged position within the CEB."

He also charged that the former Auditor General in question did not conduct a proper audit on a flawed fuel pricing formula introduced during the tenure of former Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera. "This formula resulted in inflated fuel prices, exploiting consumers. Although the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) had also flagged these issues and submitted findings to the Parliament and the COPE, the former Auditor General in question suppressed the PUCSL's report and supported the flawed fuel pricing decisions."

Dhammika further alleged that during the said Auditor General's tenure, the NAO had also not carried out proper audits on the CEB purchasing fuel for power plants at inflated retail rates instead of bulk rates. Another issue raised in the letter addressed to the Auditor General's Department was the purchase of electricity from a private supplier — Ace Embilipitiya — at high prices. "An initial audit report was prepared on this issue, but, the former Auditor General in question delayed signing it for over two years."

He added that there were also several ongoing irregularities, such as the cutting off of low-cost solar power in favour of more expensive diesel power, and the unauthorised transfer of private power plants that were due to be taken over by the State, and added that the NAO should conduct audits into such issues. "We have lodged several complaints regarding these issues to the Auditor General's Department in the past, but, no action was taken. We request the authorities to inquire into these issues, and recover the public assets lost due to the willful negligence of certain responsible officials."

Attempts to contact the Auditor General's Office proved futile.