Living the faith

Tuesday, 8 May 2012 00:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Vesak is a time to revisit and refocus on the core of Buddhism. It is also the time to see how Buddhist principles of truth, peace, honesty and kindness can be promoted in the country.

At the start of the week, just a cursory glance at the newspapers reveals many things that could do with a touch of the Vesak message. Perhaps the most crucial of these events is the upcoming full-day debate in Parliament on the Committee on Public Enterprises or COPE as it is better known.

The accounts of State institutions examined by COPE included State banks, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) and the Ceylon Electricity Board. It was found that all these institutions violated financial guidelines set out for them.

Among the issues highlighted in the report is the need for more teeth for the oversight committee, including powers, to summon former heads of State-run institutions, as well as bring under its preview, private limited companies incorporated under the Companies Act. The report has also called for more scrutiny of the eligibility of persons appointed as heads of State corporations, departments and authorities, saying that they should not only be academically qualified, but professionally too.

The committee categorised the institutions into four groups, namely those functioning profitably, those functioning at break-even, i.e. avoiding loss, but failing to make a profit, those institutions whose revenue is dwindling and those institutions running at a loss.

“The most alarming fact is the decreasing revenue of institutions such as the State Mortgage and Investment Bank, Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation and SLT, which was around 90% by 2009,” the report elaborated.

These are clear areas where the Government has to impose more accountability mechanisms. This level of gross wastage and corruption cannot be allowed to continue. It is hoped that this debate will not disintegrate to finger pointing and name calling as most debates are wont to do these days and that the politicians make a genuine attempt to fix these problems.

If at least part of the COPE report institutions can be fixed, there is hope for the other to be resurrected as well. The fact that around two per cent of the country’s GDP is being leaked out by these institutions, together with the prevailing economic challenges, provides more than enough reason for a cleanup – the bigger the better.

One COPE headache is the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), which has once again imported contaminated jet fuel and a massive disaster was averted only in the nick of time. This is the second time such transgressions have taken place but officials continue their foray blind. Even though a report was commissioned by the CPC during the last fracas that damaged thousands of vehicles, it was not made public and key posts within the CPC that could stem the rot, such as a competent financial director, remain vacant.

Truth and honesty are at the core of addressing these issues, which grow year after year in this “land of Dhamma,” but without any justice. Public and private enterprises need to concentrate on simple honesty to really live their faith.