Bandula blasts Fin.Min. officials

Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardana – Pic by Upul Abayasekara

• Accuses them of misleading Parliament, Ministers
• Charges ‘cabal’ of senior officials of hiding behind technical jargon to cover up misdeeds
• Says Ministers have become mere rubber stamps and have to give Parliament approval to whatever is presented by officials
• Says this has been practice irrespective of who is in power; urges MPs must speak out on such matters
• Land found for proposed new universities in 10 districts when he was Higher Education Minister early this year but 2021 Budget silent on it
• Says every loss-making corporation board has a Treasury rep., asks why they are not being held responsible 
• Requests Speaker to appoint select committee to keep tab on public finances

By Chandani Kirinde

Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena on Friday lashed out at a select group of senior Finance Ministry officials, whom he accused of misleading both the ministers and Parliament and shielding their misdeeds under the cover of ‘technical’ jargon.

“Some tenacious officials at the Finance Ministry are hoodwinking both the Parliament and the Ministers and doing as they please, whichever government is in power. Those of us who are elected to Parliament as representatives of the people have become mere rubber stamps,” Gunawardena said during the debate on the votes of the Ministry of Trade in Parliament on Friday.

He said while constitutionally Parliament was in control of public finances, this ‘oligopoly’ of officials was doing things to suit themselves with no consultation with the ministers.

“How can we run ministries like this? We are like rubber seals, but all the blame is shifted to the President, the Prime Minister, Ministers and the institutions and not these officials who do as they please,” Gunawardena said.

The Minister referred to an instance when Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake under the previous Government had sought Parliamentary approval for the expenditure of Rs. 125 billion on education-related projects.

“After some scrutiny, we found there was something amiss and complained to the then Speaker Karu Jayasuriya who agreed to inquire into the matter. Then Karunanayake came with a group of Finance Ministry officials for the inquiry and said that a new method had been introduced for allocating such monies and that we wouldn’t understand, covered up the fraudulent expenditure, and misled the Parliament. These officials are still there.”Gunawardena said that while officials engaged in such activities, Parliamentarians had to bow down to them and give approval for such expenditure. “We come here and either applause or criticise  what is placed before the House by way of these doctored  figures and approve them and again next year the same thing is repeated,” he said.

Gunawardena said that when he was Minister of Higher Education, between November last year and August this year, he had proposed the setting up of new universities in 10 districts and managed to obtain the necessary lands for the project. This proposal, he said, had disappeared from the 2021 Budget.

“It has come to a point that even if the Minister stands on his head and wants to get something done, it cannot be done without the approval of these officials. This is a bad precedent. This is what should be debated in this House instead of all the shallow debates that take place,” Gunawardena said.

He added that there was a representative of the Treasury in every loss-making corporation, board, etc., and questioned why they were not being held responsible for the losses. “Were they sleeping till decisions were being made by these entities that led to the losses?” he asked.

Gunawardena said this was a practice that was continuing irrespective of who was in power or who was in opposition. “We have to eventually go with what is presented to us as ‘technical issues’ and we approve it without looking at any of these so-called technicalities,” Gunawardena said.

He added that the Treasury officials should at least summon the subject minister and inquire from them what they hope to do. “The officials of the Finance Ministry get together with the other officials and discuss what to do. If the officials are doing everything, then why do you need public representatives? Why should people vote for us?” Gunawardena queried.

He requested the Speaker to appoint a Select Committee of Parliament to look at the disbursement of public finances and said there must be serious discussions in Parliament on the issue.

“Those of us who have come to Parliament as the people’s representatives, those who have worked for the people, we have to go home, but these officials continue to be there,” he added.