Dr. PB now faces ‘No Date’ motion in P’ment KARUNANAYAKE EXPOSES GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION

Dr. PB now faces ‘No Date’ motion in P’ment

In a historic move the United National Party (UNP) has brought in a No Date Motion to Parliament in order to discuss the actions of Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera.

The Motion brought in by UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake is to be presented in Parliament during the first week of October. Karunanayake has outlined eleven allegations against the Treasury Secretary. Top Civil servant Bradman Weerakoon stated that this was the first time such a move was taken against a top public servant in parliament within his recall. Karunanayake pointed out that this step was taken to “put the government on the mat” on this issue as once the No Date Motion is in the Order Paper they can question as to why it is not taken for discussion. Thus blocking all avenues of government evasion.

According to the filed Motion, Jayasundera has given the time and opportunity to the VAT fraudsters to leave the country and destroy files and documents. Also, according to Karunanayake, instead of reporting the matter to CID when the Attorney General’s office alerted him, he appointed a Committee in the Inland Revenue Department to look into the matter.

The Supreme Court holds Jayasundera responsible for acting ultra vires (against good faith) in the Lanka Marine Services Limited privatisation deal and named him “unfit to hold public office.” Since Jayasundera still continues to be Secretary to Treasury, Karunanayake said, “There’s a clear contempt of court.”

Moreover, the Motion highlighted a charge against ruining the country’s economy through the mismanagement of funds while being Secretary to the Treasury from 1997 to 2001. Jayasundera is charged with using secret funds of the Treasury to make payments to the LTTE and LTTE related projects, Lankaputhra Bank, Mihin Lanka, Ministers, etc., without proper disclosure or approval from Parliament, also violating the Constitution in the process.

As Public Enterprises Reform Commission (PERC) Chairman, Jayasundera is alleged to have been responsible for loss making privatisation ventures, improper procedures of purchasing aircraft without tenders and unlawful granting of rights and concessions to Lanka IOC, to name a few.

As promoter and founder of the billion-rupee-debt-acquired Mihin Lanka, he apparently borrowed funds form the Bank of Ceylon and Lankaputhra Bank, which came under his direction and control as Treasury Secretary. Karunanyake claimed that the Secretary permitted the mismanagement and fraudulent use of Samurdhi Trust Funds, a matter under investigation by the Attorney General’s Department and the CID.

“Every single allegation in the No Date Motion can be substantiated,” Karunanayake said when asked about the charges, “And we want to take it to Parliament as soon as possible.”

When contacted, Presidential Advisor and Activist Vasudeva Nanayakkara stated that in his opinion there are several respondents who are liable in the allegations made against the Secretary and that it is not fair to single him out, especially in the Marine Services case.

According to Nanayakkara, there have been several instances in the past where high ranking public officials have been called before Parliament to hold themselves accountable in instances where there had been misconduct or lack of transparency. “But a decision of Parliament has no bearing, unless the Ministers in charge are willing to take it on and not let it lie. A Supreme Court passing judgment is very rare.”

He added that it is only fair that Karunanayake looks at the Parliamentary reports of the various committees in the past and find all the persons subjected to admonitions, insisting that, “These things have happened during past regimes but no one has been taken to task.”


Business ethics


Of P.B. Jayasundara:

So now we know the calibre of our corporate leaders so admired and honoured by the sacrosanct private sector that more often than not cocked a snook at all and sundry until the Chief Justice himself took a swipe at both the public and the private in one consummate stroke that has all but exposed what our sense of governance is all about.

With the Treasury Secretary strutting around with the blessings of the Chief Executive and the JKH chief carrying on regardless, life in Paradise must subscribe to bliss, ignorant though it might not be.

Businessmen who have hitherto been outspoken critics have been conspicuously quiet. For their part all the big guns have gone quiet because that is the way these games are played out. Ignore the barbs and carry on for before long the patient waiting out will pay dividends is the thinking.

And it is left to a lone newspaper, a courageous editor and a few voices in the wilderness to demand that justice or at least moral rectitude is practised lest the law of the jungle permeates into the board rooms of the several business houses that constitute our inviolate private sector.

Old Vasu and Nihal Sri Amerasekera must be left wondering what more they must do, while a moribund public witnesses the malaise of a body populace that cannot bring its errant members to accountability. Any petty crook or poor clerk who puts its hand into the cookie jar must stand vindicated and the high priests who bless most of these supernovas at their gentile places of worship must hide in their garbs for not any have chosen to speak out against this sleight of intellect!

The President of this land and no other must demonstrate the sanctity of his office by making his move. He must send PBJ packing (if even to a fine diplomatic resting place) to declare to the people of this land and the private sector wallahs that he did not come from the deep south for nothing.

He has chosen to fight for our motherland against severe odds but he must also make sure that this land that he wants to free is not desecrated by men to whom honour means making the big bucks under the guise of brilliant deal-making. What the LMSL junket revealed is the tip of the iceberg and good men who remain silent are those who do the greatest damage.

Business ethics must not be left to chamber seminars to white-wash now and then. They are indeed the biggest culprits. It is they who have let all down protecting and championing the causes of people who sustain their existence.

One sanctimonious company CFO wrote to your paper to suggest that they have made all disclosures. What they did not say is what matters; what action was taken to mitigate losses?

A chamber is not just an amalgam of business orientation; it should be an edifice of governance at its best. So let’s hope some hearts bleed for our nation and for our people whether they come from the private side or the public side of the road we traverse.

Business ethics must transcend the commerce of our country. I would hate to say ‘my foot, it does!’

— Corporate Observer

Ravi tables motion against PBJ

UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake has written to the Secretary General of Parliament on Monday (15) forwarding a no date motion on the actions of the Finance Ministry Secretary, Dr. P.B. Jayasundera.
In his motion, Karunanayake had mentioned 11 points where Jayasundara had failed in his duties as the Ministry Secretary.

Karunanayake states that the country’s debt level had increased during the four years he was the Secretary and added that the cost of living had also increased to an unbearable extent.

"He used secret funds of the Treasury and made payments to the LTTE/LTTE related projects, Lankaputhra Bank, Mihin Lanka, Ministers etc. without disclosure to parliament and without specific approval of parliament, thereby violating the constitution," he has alleged

Karunanayake also stated that Jayasundera, as the Chairman of the Public Enterprise Reforms Commission (PERC) was responsible for several privatizations, which had caused losses to the government.

The motion has been placed in the Order Paper.
end:

Ravi Karunanayake is visiting New York and Washington next week for special talks,
with ...........(Censored).