*Calls for practical measures to overcome ‘scourge of corruption’

Attorney General Mohan Peiris yesterday launched an unprecedented attack on private sector corruption. He asserted that anti-corruption initiatives targeting only the public sector wouldn’t help Sri Lanka to overcome the scourge of corruption.

Addressing a press conference called by the UNDP, Peiris pointed out the absurdity of turning a blind eye to corruption within the corporate sector. In his brief but critically important comments, Peiris who went to the extent of accusing the private sector of encouraging corruption, emphasised that Sri Lanka’s failure to tackle corruption was primarily due to absence of an effective mechanism for that purpose.

At the head table with Peiris, were Justice Ameer Ismail, Chairman of the Permanent Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and Douglas Keh, Country Director, UNDP.

Turning towards Keh, Peiris stressed the importance of focusing on ways and means of tackling private sector corruption as part of the latest UNDP-CIABOC initiative. In an obvious reference to mega corrupt transactions revealed by the parliamentary watchdog committee, COPE, Peiris explained that the public sector couldn’t engage in malpractices without private sector participation.

Peiris assured maximum support to the UNDP’s efforts. The AG went on the offensive against the backdrop of the recent revelation of the private sector bribing influential public servants as in the case of controversial oil hedging transaction.

Peiris pointed out that the landmark Supreme Court judgment on the hotly disputed privatisation of the Lanka Marine Services Limited (LMSL) was evidence that the country’s engine of growth had been transformed into an engine of fraud.

The AG said that the vast majority of bribery complainants were givers of bribes. Calling them disgruntled elements bent on achieving deals whatever the means, the AG said that nine out of ten complainants fell into this category.

US Ambassador Robert Blake at a function at the CIABOC asserted that the cost of corruption is difficult to quantify, but there was little doubt that it had dramatically negative economics and political consequences. "Corruption damages development and reform, impedes the ability of countries to attract foreign investment, hinders the growth of democratic institutions, and concentrates power in the hands of a few," he said.

Referring to yesterday’s front-page article in The Island headlined, Two costly anti-corruption plans gather dust as fresh USD 858,000 project gets underway, Keh said that the UNDP had spent only USD 196,000 on ‘the Strategic Plan of the CIABOC’ prepared by Chua Cher Yak, former Director, Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, Singapore (1994-2005) but not USD 300,000 as claimed in the news item.

Responding to our queries, Keh acknowledged that there was no guarantee that their new three-year project called Support Efforts and Action against Corruption in Sri Lanka (SEAC) would be implemented by the government of Sri Lanka. Keh said that the project would cost USD 858,500, with the UNDP’s contribution being USD 300,000. The UNDP intends to raise USD 558,000 from other donors.

He said that he couldn’t agree more with The Island on the pivotal importance of tough auditing measures, accountability and transparency in their transactions. He revealed that they had adopted new financial directives in keeping with newly introduced auditing measures. This was in response to severe criticism against INGOs including UN agencies by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa that the army hadn’t come across any new constructions in the liberated areas in the Vanni despite millions of US dollars spent by INGOs/NGOs. The Defence Secretary in an interview with The Island, pointed out that new construction including underground facilities in the Vanni region had belonged to the LTTE.

Responding to our queries, both Keh and Justice Ameer Ismail acknowledged that the government hadn’t implemented any of the recommendations made by the UNDP and the USAID in their respective anti-corruption plans submitted in 2007.

The UNDP proposed a range of far reaching proposals, including the restoration of the CIABOC’s power to initiate its own investigations. Yak faulted the government for turning a blind eye to the critical need to amend Act 19 of 1994, which prohibited the CIABOC from initiating action without a complaint.

The UNDP also urged the government to stop appointing retired justices of the Court of Appeal to the three-member CIABOC establishment of a powerful oversight committee to evaluate the CIABOC’s performance. The UNDP proposed draft legislation required to give effect to its recommendations.

Ismail said that the Act couldn’t be amended as the CIABOC was outside the purview of any ministry. Asked about the failure on the part of successive governments and CIABOC to introduce the required amendment, he said that the President was responsible for institution.

Keh said that the Permanent Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) would be the implementing partner of the latest project to promote legislative and institutional arrangements, establish mechanisms to monitor the implementation of anti-corruption policies and programmes and introduce new and innovative integrity initiatives in select organisations.

The project would support the creation of a favourable regulatory environment and strengthening operational capacity of the CIABOC, particularly in the fields of investigations and prosecutions.

The US government, through USAID, provided a staggering USD 2.3 million to fund its anti-corruption initiative as part of its USD 135 million tsunami recovery and reconstruction programme.

The Island also raised the question of the inordinate delay on the part of the CIABOC to investigate mega corrupt cases, particularly the LMSL transaction which had been cancelled by the Supreme Court. Justice Ismail said that they couldn’t rush without conducting a comprehensive investigation. Acknowledging that the CIABOC had received a Supreme Court directive to investigate the matter, he said that over 40 statements had been recorded so far.