AG's Dept to look into SLIC transactions

Chaminda Perera

The Auditor General's Department will seriously look into the transactions of the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) after it was privatized.

The Department has already informed Sri Lanka Insurance to provide necessary facilities to establish an office in the Corporation premises. The Auditor General's decision is in the wake of a Supreme Court judgment that ordered the Government to take over the reins of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation following a FR Case filed by Colombo Municipal Council Opposition Leader Vasudeva Nanayakkara.

Auditor General S. Swarnajothi said a team of professionals attached to the department has already been appointed to probe the dealings that took place in the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation for the past few years in compliance with the Supreme Court order. .

The Supreme Court has asked us to investigate the dealings that took place in the Sri Lanka Insurance corporation during the past few years and a high profile team of my department will look into its transactions after the office is set up at the Corporation, the Auditor General said.

He said the department had a very strong audit branch at the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation before it was privatized by the then Government. "We deployed 20 officers to conduct auditing at the SLIC before it was privatized", he said.

"We are custodians of the public funds. The Government's funds do not belong to the managers or politicians but the people of Sri Lanka , he said. The Auditor General is empowered by the Constitution of Sri Lanka to audit accounts of all Government institutions including the offices of Cabinet of Ministers, Judicial Services Commission and all local Government bodies.

The Auditor General has powers to obtain the assistance of specialists in the examination of any technical , professional or scientific problems relevant to the audit.