Thursday, 1 August 2013 02:22
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By Uditha Jayasinghe
A pumped-up Petroleum Minister yesterday criticised the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) report on the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) because it did not present pragmatic solutions to colossal losses.
Responding to questions on the COPE report, Yapa defended the CPC and insisted that the losses were only due to fuel subsidies provided by the Government and not due to corruption and mismanagement. COPE had highlighted the latter and insisted that auditing practices within the CPC were weak.
Despite admitting that he is yet to read the latest COPE report, Yapa was adamant that the members were not cognisant of the constraints faced by the CPC as a company that provided “great relief” to the people.
“I cannot go around demanding payments from other Government enterprises. For example, if I were to demand payment from the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). then there would be new problems to face. I am not saying that COPE is bad, but they must also present practical ways for us to reduce losses.”
COPE said the CPC had been incurring losses gradually since 2008, and it had ballooned to Rs. 94.5 billion by 2011, thereby endangering its viability.
The COPE report also found seven major issues and problems at CPC.
