Board to investigate complaints against INGOs, NGOs

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

A board has been appointed to investigate complains against INGOs and NGOs, National Secretariat for Non Governmental Organizations, Director Douglas Nanayakkara said.

According to Nanayakkara, complaints against two NGOs are in connection with large scale financial irregularities are already being probed.

Once the board finds out that there are concrete evidence the matter will be handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), he said.

The National Secretariat for Non Governmental Organizations receive complaints from stake holders of NGOs in connection with various problems. The Secretariat has already been appointed an Inquiry Board under the provisions of the existing law of Sri Lanka. Majority of them mainly related to financial irregularities. And there were some complaints against certain expatriates, he said. There was a very clear increase in the number of NGOs after the 2004 Tsunami. Before tsunami it was only 850 NGOs in Sri Lanka.

This number increased up to 1,150 after the tsunami. At present there are 1,307 NGOs in Sri Lanka. 357 of them are foreign NGOs and 950 of them are local NGOs, he added.