Parliament to focus on taking action against officials who fail to implement COPE decisions

The Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) and Member of Parliament (Prof) Charitha Herath said that the Parliament will focus on taking special measures against officials who do not implement the recommendations and decisions made by COPE.

He mentioned this at a special meeting of the Committee on Public Enterprises which was held in Parliament yesterday (04).

The meeting was held especially with the participation of the members of the committee and the views of its members on 3 main issues were obtained, the statement said. 

Accordingly, the review of the progress made pertaining to COPE investigations conducted during the period from February 23rd, 2022 to date was considered at the meeting. Accordingly, the Chairman of COPE stated that the investigations carried out during this period have been complied into a report and copies of the report have been given to the members of the committee.

He further mentioned that the decisions related to several institutions including SriLankan Airlines, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, State Timber Corporation, People’s Bank, Development Lotteries Board, Building Materials Corporation, Litro Gas Lanka Limited and Litro Gas Terminal Lanka (Private) Limited were included in the report. 

The chairman of the committee further pointed out that certain reports related to certain decisions given by the committee have not yet been given to the committee by these institutions. 

The Members of Parliament who were present, pointed out that strict action should be taken against the officials who do not implement these decisions. They pointed out that the Parliament and the committee should intervene further regarding the matter. 

The members further said that the public should be aware that this is a place which performs important functions going beyond media shows or restricting itself to simple chatter.

Thus, the Chairman of the Committee stated that the Committee is working according to the legislative powers received in terms of the Standing Orders and the Constitution. He also pointed out that identified important institutions will be called back and special measures will be taken as Parliament in the future.

Furthermore, COPE decided the dates related to the meeting aimed at specifically discussing the implementation of public debt and financial policies of the Central Bank.

Accordingly, COPE decided to hold a special meeting to discuss on this regard on the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd of this month. The mutual agreement resulted in the summoning of officials including the former Governors of the Central Bank, former secretaries of the Ministry of Finance.

Furthermore, it was decided to have a special meeting of COPE on August 02, 03, 04 and 05 to look into the electricity generation, purchase, distribution and projects of the Ceylon Electricity Board.

In addition, it was also decided in this meeting to call the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to the COPE on the 7th of this month.

Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, Members of Parliament Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Indika Anuruddha, (Dr.) Harsha de Silva, S.M. Marikkar, Nalin Bandara, Premnath C. Dolawatte, Madhura Withanage were present at the committee meeting.