COPE cases to Bribery Commission

Unanimous agreement by all parties in Parliament:

Uditha Kumarasinghe, Rajmi Manatunga and Irangika Range

KOTTE: Parliament yesterday unanimously resolved to lodge a complaint at the Commission on the Investigation of Bribery or Corruption regarding corruption and mismanagement at 16 public institutions probed by the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).

Accordingly, COPE findings regarding a list of 16 public enterprises topped by the National Housing Development Authority (NHDA), Ruhuna Development Bank (RDB) and the Mahapola Higher Education Trust Fund will be forwarded through the Speaker to the Commission for investigation.

Among the other State institutions whose transactions will be submitted for investigation are the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC), Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Bank of Ceylon (BoC), Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB), Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital, Board of Investment (BoI), National Water Supply and Drainage Board, National Lotteries Board (NLB), Public Enterprise Reform Commission (PERC), Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Land Reform Commission (LRC) and the People’s Bank.

In addition, it was also decided to send the COPE findings regarding the Central Bank, Airport and Aviation Services Ltd, Independent Television Network, National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), Samurdhi Authority, Urban Development Authority (UDA), State Mortgage and Investment Bank (SMIB), Institute of Policy Studies, Development Lottery Board (DLB) and Milco (Pvt) Ltd to the relevant Ministers and Secretaries to take action.

These institutions have been found to be inefficient and mismanaged.

The decision was made in line with the agreement reached by political parties on Tuesday to entrust COPE the authority to make appropriate recommendations on further steps to be taken regarding the findings of the Committee.

It was also agreed to hold a two-day debate in Parliament on the matter.