Karu J calls for private sector support for good governance

Saturday, 24 January 2015 02:37 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Senuri De Silva Public Administration, Democratic Rule and Buddha Sasana Minister Karu Jayasuriya early this week called for the support of the private sector to take part in the new wave of development efforts by the Government to uplift the national economy. “We have come to clean up. We have a unique opportunity to do this and create a better, moreeffective and efficient system of governance but we cannot do it alone. We need your support,” he asserted at the National Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 20January. The Minister Jayasuriya indicated that the Government understood the importance of supporting the business community by creating equal opportunities and levelling the playing field as a part of its effort to build a system of transparency and good governance.

“I believe it a colossal waste if our business community has to focus all their efforts on getting into the good books of politicians. It is this colossal waste of ability and talent, opportunity and enterprising spirit that we need to address.” “Let’s not nurture self-interest but let us nurture freedom, enterprise, business, employment and good business conduct, ethics and overall good governance,” he added. However, the Minister was also quick to point out that the notion of good governance was not only applicable to governments, but also to businesses in the form of corporate good governance which should be affirmed by their actions. “If someone is taking a bribe, there is someone at the other end offering one. If you cut corners, it would be silly to expect politicians not to follow suit.” The changes in the business environment can be brought about not only through the collective efforts of various political parties but by the collective effort of the private and public sectorand by corporates and policymakers working together to achieve one common goal of national development. The Minister also touched on a number of issues that had been discussed in Parliament which had convened that morning. According to various statements made, some of the immediate implementations of the 100-day plan could be expected in the form of reduced prices of essential food itemsand fuel and gas prices along with salary increases for the public sector to uplift the living standards of citizens. “On the instructions of the President and the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance has been asked to work out a package to bring down the cost of living. On 29 January we are planning to reduce the prices of 10 food items,” the Minister. “We are not going to burden the people. We want to avoid corruption and we also want to have other means of raising this money,” he added, indicating that a reduction in the price of some essential food items could be expected as soon as the end of this month. Minister Jayasuriya spoke of the plans to reduce fuel prices (already implemented) and the possibility of reducing gas prices which was being looked by the Minister of Power and Energy to be presented as part of the new budget on 29 January. In addition to this there will be a Rs. 5,000 increase in salaries of public servants to be implemented from February as the initial part of the Rs. 10,000 increase which was promised and a raise in the pension allowance will also reflect this effort made by the Government to raise the living standards of present and past members of the public service. The minister noted: “We made a pledge we will raise the salaries if we come to power and the first instalment of Rs. 5,000 will be paid with the February salaries. We also thought that pensioners should live comfortably so we thought we should give them Rs. 3,500 special allowance with that.”