By Shamindra Ferdinando

Foreign diplomatic missions in Colombo had finalized various agreements with local NGOs running into millions of dollars, some of which might not have been in the best interests of the country, due to failure on the part of successive governments to effectively monitor such deals, Government sources said yesterday

These sources told The Island that in spite of severe criticism of some projects undertaken by NGOs, since 2002, there hadn’t been any initiative to inquire into what was going on.

Responding to a query, a senior official said that the issue had to be discussed at the cabinet level without further delay to prevent any further anti- national activities.

Sources pointed out that the ongoing legal dispute between one-time Norwegian-funded NGO heavyweight Dr. Kumar Rupesinghe and Norway over the latter’s refusal to respect a financial agreement had placed the Sri Lankan government in an extremely embarrassing position.

Dr. Rupesinghe has successfully moved a Court against four ex-Norwegian representatives, including former Ambassador, Hilde Haraldstad seeking compensation amounting to Rs. 100 mn. Dr. Rupesinghe told The Island that the agreement, signed on June 16, 2008, was for a period of three years. Norway couldn’t have violated the agreement without expecting to be challenged in a local court in accordance with the agreement, Dr. Rupasinghe said.

Dr. Rupesinghe finalized the agreement in his capacity as the head of the Foundation for Co-Existence.

He said that he intended to pursue the case whatever the obstacles, now that the District Court of Colombo had cleared the way for legal action.

Norway has called for government intervention to halt the proceedings as its personnel were covered by diplomatic immunity. The District Court of Colombo has set the next date of hearing for August 13, 2013.

In the run-up to Dr. Rupesinghe moving court, Norway, in a special report titled ‘Evaluation of Norwegian peace efforts in Sri Lanka 1997-2009’, revealed that the peace guru had been paid $ 6 mn for the period 2004-2008. According to the report, Dr. Rupesinghe had been the main beneficiary during that period. Among the beneficiaries had been the Sri Lankan government, the LTTE as well as the Muslim Peace Secretariat.

Meanwhile the German foundation Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), which had been funding various projects, including some undertaken by Dr. Rupesinghe was under investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), sources said.

Police headquarters said that the CID had recorded a statement from Ms Sagarika Delgoda, the local representative of the FES as regards allegations the outfit was operating outside its mandate.

Commenting on media reports pertaining to a recent project launched by the FES, police headquarters said that there was no requirement to arrest UNP MPs.

The FES set up office in Sri Lanka in 1965.

Well informed sources told The Island that the FES had funded scores of projects launched by politicians representing major political parties as well as many others, including media personalities.