UNP National List MP Dr. Harsha de Silva yesterday urged the government to immediately present the draft National Audit Bill to parliament. The economist said that the government could no longer ignore the issue of accountability in the wake of the grave financial crisis at the CEB.

Commenting on Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) chief Dr. Jayatissa Costa’s revelation that there were only six internal auditors at the CEB, the UNP National List MP said "If according to the PUCSL the CEB has only six internal auditors among its 18,000 staff members it is no surprise why the mind boggling level of corruption continues to be hidden from the public.

In fact, it is only now that information is surfacing that the CEB has lost control of several of its subsidiaries even though it owns more than half of the issued shares.

Shocking details are being uncovered that a company by the name of LTL Holdings, of which CEB holds over 60 per cent shares and has nominated five out of its total eight directors, who have created various subsidiaries and associate companies that sell power back to the CEB, not only without its approval but even without conveying the same. The deeper one gets in to the complex maze of accounts at the CEB it becomes clear how large scale corruption can take place without ever being caught, least when the CEB employs only six persons to audit the gigantic vertically integrated utility."               

"The UNP demands that the government immediately present the National Audit Bill to Parliament by which a Constitutional Audit Council, comprising the Leader of the House, Leader of the opposition, Chairman and a member of COPE and the Chairman and a member of COPA, is established forthwith. It is only through such an undependent entity that the fast spreading cancer of corruption can be identified and eliminated before it destroys our economy. "

"In the case of CEB the information regarding the unauthorized action by some of their subsidiaries is only now trickling in and we, in the opposition, are not in a position to pursue this matter given the lack of authority, absent in the background of the non-establishment of the independent audit committee. The government must immediately investigate this matter and take appropriate action against the wrongdoers and in the meantime impound their passports before they run away to various countries where they have obtained green cards with the ill-gotten wealth."

island.lk