A case for financial responsibility

IF Sri Lanka as a progressive nation wants to host international events, then there are many lessons from the failed 2018 Games bid. Nearly a year after the bid, Parliament is to be presented with the accounts for the expenses and gives a clear glimpse of public money spent.

It was reported over the weekend that nearly Rs.200 million in public funds was used in the Government’s abortive bid to stage the Commonwealth Games in Hambantota in 2018. The 2012 Fiscal Management Report which is to be submitted to Parliament by the Ministry of Finance and Planning shortly says the Treasury had provided more than Rs.195.4 million for the bid to host the Commonwealth Games in Sri Lanka and connected expenses.

The money had been allocated to the Ministry of Sports as initial share capital to bid for hosting the proposed Commonwealth Games as well as purchase of vehicles. The money had come from the allocations provided by the Treasury under the Budgetary Support Services and Contingent Liability Project up to 30 June 2011 and was given as a supplementary allocation, the report says.

Interestingly, when a question was raised in Parliament last week on the amount spent on the Games bid, Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said the Government was still carrying out an audit on the money spent and the details would be made available to Parliament soon.

The Minister said the Government had allocated Rs. 100 million for the bid but of this, Rs. 39 million had been spent on the Hambantota Beach Games. However, the Fiscal Management Report has said Rs. 195.4 million was given as the initial share capital to bid for the games. In November 2011, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal played down the numbers by insisting that most of the money was given by private sector, but there has been no official clarification of that claim.

It is clear that there is a tendency to be carried away by the egos of some of those involved, hence there is no harm in taking an honest re-look at where Sri Lanka went wrong in terms of bidding and marketing. If there is a next time, the first lesson is to avoid taking a delegation of 150 at massive cost, whereas the Gold Coast contingent numbered only around 20.

Clearly, since this bid the Government has moved forward in its plans to host large sports events, but financial responsibility remains in the shadows. With the recent announcement of Sri Lanka hosting the third Asian Youth Games and the remark by Namal Rajapaksa stating that they may be shifted to Mullaitivu, the question of financial responsibility becomes all the more poignant.

The result of the cricket World Cup is one indication of how Sri Lanka needs to brush up on its fiscal responsibility in dealing with large-scale sporting events. That one event plunged the richest sporting body in Sri Lanka into bankruptcy as well as causing intense turmoil within the cricketing team and Sports Ministry. Protecting against wastage and mismanagement is particularly difficult when such decisions are politicised, which is almost always the case here.  

Games apart, the Government needs to be more realistic as well as prudent with regard to the future development of Hambantota and the country in an overall sense. It can draw strength from the bid as well as responsibly deliver true socioeconomic growth so that come 2018, people in Sri Lanka will be the true winners.