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| Pic by : Chandana Wijesinghe |
Sri Lanka’s result in the preceding year
could only mean according to public perceptions corruption in the public sector
in Sri Lanka is on the rise or at least it is deemed to be so. Such
a ranking is clearly not an achievement Sri Lanka can be proud of, but never
the less it is not unexpected or startling. Corruption has been long inherent
in the public sector of Sri Lanka, so much so that it has even developed its
own lingo. It is a generally the accepted norm that one needs to provide a
‘something’ in order to get the needful done in a government office.
According to Commission to Investigate
Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABC) Director General Lakshmi
Jayawickrama the main offending parties that solicit bribes appear to be public
servants from the education sector and the Police. “The third offending party
appears to be District and Divisional Secretariat staff,” said Jayawickrama
adding that other categories included are civilians and Court staff. However
today the dialogue among many is regarding corruption of epic proportions,
going far beyond the mere Rs. 500 handed over for running a red light or to
obtain a document faster.
With the end of the war the country has gone
in to a full development mode. After years of conflict, Sri Lanka needs to make
up for the lost years and possibilities of development, which were all
sacrificed to rid the country of its greatest burden. But just as the highways,
and various other development projects have been put in to top gear whispers
have been many regarding unsolicited tenders, bribes and political favors. And
then there are outright allegations by the opposition and even revelations with
calls to re-introduce the scrapped National Procurement Agency (NPA) in order
to tackle soaring corruption.
The National Procurement Agency was
originally formulated by a Cabinet Memorandum in 2004 by then President
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga citing an urgent need to formulate a
National Procurement Strategy and streamline the National Procurement System
and Procedures with a view to eliminate corrupt practices, waste of time and
funds while improving transparency and efficiency pertaining to government
work.However, in 2007 only three years since its inception the government
officially informed the NPA in December 2007 to close shop. The Agency was
requested to hand over its assets, liabilities and staff before January 31,
2008. Although NPA Chairman Daya Liyanage, submitted a written appeal outlining
the achievements of the Agency, and urging that it continues it was to no
avail.
The government citing NPA’s lack of
performance and effectiveness functions of the NPA handed over its functions
back to the Public Finance Division of the Treasury Department, under a process
described by a Cabinet Memorandum dated 11 May 2004, as time consuming,
permitted corrupt practices and also resulted in exceptionally delayed
implementation. Back then while the employees cried foul over the government’s
decision to shut it down, they said the decision was made due to political
reasons and had nothing to do with the NPA’s lack of performance.
At the time the NPA had formulated many
projects and ongoing activities in order to standardize and simplify the government
procurement system. The Agencies projects included formulating guidelines for
government procurement of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, consulting
services, public private partnerships and local government institutions. The
NPA was also formulating standard bidding documents for various public
institutions, preparing a bidders’ guide to success in public procurement as
well as assisting, guiding and advising institutions and clients. Furthermore,
the NPA was in the process of formulating an effective coordinating system to
interact with the Line Ministries and government agencies and developing a Web
Based Procurement Monitoring System (WBPMS).
Other projects were related to strengthening
and monitoring government procurements, strengthening the government
procurement capacity and enhancing the transparency and good governance of
government procurement.Therefore the call to re-implement the NPA is understandable as an agency which
carried out many important functions in order to prevent corruption and ensure
transparency in the tender process. One of the main voices requesting its
re-introduction has been of United National Party parliamentarian and Economist
Dr. Harsha De Silva.
According to Dr. De Silva the state’s
strategy of resorting to unsolicited projects as well as awarding contracts
sans competitive tenders must be immediately reined in as it contravenes its
own regulations. “This modus operandi doesn’t ensure transparency and the best
price because it is only via competitive bidding that fair play and price can
be ensured,” UNP MP said. The Ministry of Finance Circulars 444 and 444/1
clearly stipulates that the Government should make no decisions on unsolicited
proposals except with Cabinet approval in exceptional circumstances. “However today
the exception has become the rule as opposed to following procurement guide
lines” he said when interviewed by The Nation and perhaps in an attempt to
justify the accusation Secretary to the Finance Ministry Dr. P. B. Jayasundera
was reported as saying Government’s rigorous tender procedures made big
projects impossible.
However, as UNP MP Harsha De Silva pointed
out such an explanation appears to be unacceptable. According to the MP an open
and transparent process does not necessarily cause delay as during the
President Kumaratunga’s regime the Colombo Katunayake Expressway was
facilitated within nine months through a competitive tender process. Ironically
the Tender Committee for the Katunayake Express project in 1999/2000 was
chaired by the current Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera who is now of
the opinion that such a tender process can hamper large scale projects. The
Nation was unable to elicit a response from Dr. Jayasundera regarding the
comment made by him.
Most recently the government was slammed for
awarding a multi-billion dollar sea reclamation deal to a Chinese company
blacklisted by the World Bank for corruption. A World Bank statement in 2011
said it had debarred China Communications Construction Company from
participating in its projects until 2017 following a corruption probe on a road
project in the Philippines. However Sri Lankan government spokesman Keheliya
Rambukwella denied any corruption. “There is no corrupt practice involving this
company in respect of our transactions,” Rambukwella told reporters at the
time.
While many Chinese companies are now
investing in mega projects in Sri Lanka, there have been many allegations of
them avoiding tender procedures and hence emerging as the only bidders for
contracts with talks of commissions running up to millions of US Dollars being
paid to local agents to secure such projects.
In February this year the engineers of the
Ceylon Electricity Board claimed that the construction of the Norochcholai and
Sampur Power Plants did not take place in line with proper tender procedures
while pointing out that the country is suffering the consequences of not
following proper tender procedures. Such allegations have also spilled out to
other development projects. Also it should be noted if the projects being
handed over are being completed successfully. During the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting the pavements and other public spaces were revamped many of
the projects missed their deadlines while some pavements were left with gaping
holes, and incomplete bus stands and parks, and therefore perhaps the
re-introduction of the NPA is the need of the hour.
But however the government has remained
silent on the matter despite the concerns being valid. According to Dr.
Harsha de Silva he has received no response from the government. “They are just
silent on the matter” he said. He suggests Sri Lanka needs a more dynamic
tender process in order to eliminate corruption in keeping with the times and
the current development projects being carried out in Sri Lanka as well as the
methods of financing of them.
But most importantly what must be kept in
mind is these are public funds being utilized in an incorrect way, loans
received for projects which are paid for through the taxes paid by the general
public.
In
2006, President Mahinda Rajapaksa wrote in his Preface to the NPA Guidelines
that all Government Departments and Ministries should follow the guidelines and
urged them to do so, and as stated before the guidelines should not be the
exception but the norm. Likewise as a citizen one can only request the
government adhere to the guidelines of National Procurement in order for better
transparency and to eradicate corruption in Sri Lanka.
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