Fix the system

The depletion of the freshly-filled Mt. Lavinia beach has raised much public ire, which is justified. Whenever projects fail the result is public anger, but in Sri Lanka the ability to hold the Government to account is extremely difficult, especially when projects are initiated by one administration and carried out during another, but most importantly because transparency is all but non-existent and accountability scarce. The real solution is to fix the system under which procurement is done but despite repeated attempts this has remained largely neglected. 

When the 19th Amendment was passed in 2015, among the commissions that were created was a National Procurement Commission (NPC) whose task was to upgrade the existing guidelines and establish a more transparent system under which all national tenders would be called and allocated. The guidelines were completed in early 2018 but unfortunately they never received Cabinet or Parliamentary approval despite repeated attempts. Part of this effort was also to set up an e-Government Procurement platform. All of this was targeted at reducing corruption and promoting public interest.      

Sri Lanka is the only country in the South Asian region not to have an e-GP in place. The procurement guidelines were compiled by the NPC for the purpose of formulating fair, equitable, transparent, competitive, and cost-effective procedures and guidelines for the procurement of goods and services, works, consultancy services, and information services by Government institutions.

The guidelines required that Government procurement process ensure, among other things, transparency and accountability, provide fair, equal and maximum opportunity for eligible interested parties to participate in procurement and promote human wellbeing and support sustainable development by promoting environmentally-friendly procurement while optimising resource utilisation and minimising the negative impact on the environment. The guidelines also require regular publishing of procurement data in accordance with the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) and enhanced stakeholder trust and confidence during the entire procurement process.

The guidelines, which constitute national policy and were supposed to be mandatory once implemented and applicable to all procurements carried out by Government institutions, and also addressed measures to prevent fraudulent and corrupt practices that take place during the procurement process.

All policy- and decision-makers, officials, bidders, contractors and suppliers, subcontractors, service providers, and agents or any of their personnel would have been bound by the guidelines to the highest standards of ethics during the procurement process and contract execution and are required to be free from corrupt, fraudulent, collusive, coercive and obstructive practices. 

If the existence of corrupt practices were confirmed through a formal inquiry, sanctions, including debarment from that procurement process or eligibility for future procurements, were to be imposed on bidders, contractors and officials, and could additionally be reported to the respective authorities for appropriate action.  

It was estimated that if the guidelines were implemented Sri Lanka would have saved as much as Rs. 27 billion in public funds. Much of the corruption that many complain is endemic in Sri Lanka is rooted in a flawed procurement system that allows for interference not just by politicians but also public servants, as the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) shows.

As the Mt. Lavinia beach project has shown, once the money is spent, getting it back is well-nigh impossible. So the rot has to be stopped by fixing the procurement system. Unfortunately, so far the Government has shown no interest in this and without this becoming a priority public funds will continue to be frittered away like the sand dumped on the Mt. Lavinia beach.