In trying to slay the anaconda of corruption, we have been attacking its tail with matchsticks and toothpicks. We are only tickling the bloated creature.

Corruption needs to be fought the same way as terrorism. That insidious enemy should be engaged on many fronts if it is to be routed. But, we are preoccupied with battling corruption only in the public sector. We seem to have taken corruption that the private sector is plagued with for granted.

Attorney General Mohan Peiris yesterday minced no words when he told the media there was evidence that the country's engine of growth had become an engine of fraud. He referred to the Lanka Marine Services Ltd. deal as an example. There have been many such cases. Waters Edge deal has become journalistic shorthand for corruption. The Consumer Affairs Authority Act contains a clause surreptitiously inserted in favour of Prima.

The latest is the CPC oil hedging deal where some palms were evidently greased. Now that the government has come under threat of being hauled up before an international tribunal for breach of contract as regards hedging, those who shamelessly lined their pockets at the expense of the country and made an irreversible commitment to a highly questionable contract must be exposed and dealt with appropriately and urgently so that the truth will be known to the world.

Yesterday saw the launching of another UNDP funded ambitious project to tackle corruption at a cost of USD 850,000, though there is no guarantee of its implementation. Two previous anti-corruption plans, as we reported on Monday, are already gathering dust. We make no attempt to discount the importance of formulating a strategy to deal with corruption.

Among the measures the UNDP has proposed, we learn, is vesting the permanent Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) with powers to initiate probes on its own without waiting for complaints from outside.

The CIABOC is like an old man with false teeth working on a hard bone. Every time it tries to bite, its teeth get dislodged and it cuts a pathetic figure. Little wonder, political sharks escape while fingerlings like petty clerks, coroners and peons get caught in the CIABOC net.

The CIABOC must be reinvigorated and given stronger teeth. But, to politicians of all hues it has become something like a red rag to a bull and therefore they only pay lip service to the idea of amending Act No. 19 of 1994. How can a bunch of crooks who refuse to declare their assets and liabilities be expected to help strengthen an institution to nab the corrupt?

Even if the CIABOC were to be given wider powers and steps taken to cleanse the public sector of corruption by any chance, the country's campaign against corruption would not reach fruition so long as the private sector remains corrupt and wields a corrupting influence over the state sector.

The so-called civil society pontificating to the world on the virtues of accountability, transparency etc. is also corrupt to the core as could be seen from how its worthy members are ratting on one another these days. Thieves have fallen out, a wag says. INGOs raised millions of dollars and pounds claiming to help the people in the conflict zone but the opening up of the Vanni has exposed their sordid operations. There is no proof of their projects. Where have they all gone? There are only huge earth bunds, deep motes and fortified trenches.

These INGO and NGO Sakvithis have obviously played out their donors and duped the public! Worse, some of them are also involved in the anti-corruption drive. Who will guard the guardians?