The Hon. Hector Appuhamy

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, thank you very much for this opportunity.

¶ 02 Today we speak on the National Audit (Amendment) Bill. Much has been said—also by Hon. Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe. We say: give practical solutions to farmers—then the problem ends. Because those are not given, the Opposition comes here to question you. Answer, and also deliver to the farmer.

¶ 03 Hon. Deputy Speaker, I request you to read Hansards and see how Government-side Members have insulted and slung mud at individuals by name. When the Pohottuwa Government was in power and both sides hurled mud, we said then: do not do this, or the public will reject Parliament. Today you are doing it most. Look at the language used—how improper it is. Now they spoke about Hon. Amila Prasad; he did not insult anyone.

¶ 04 Hon. Deputy Speaker, the Prime Minister forgot the two women MPs in the Opposition; she spoke only about the 20 women MPs on the Government side. Why not mention the two Opposition women MPs? A former Minister in your Government made a grave insult to Hon. Rohini Wijerathna. Did the Prime Minister stand then and speak a word? If there is concern for women, she should have spoken then and stopped such conduct. She did not. Now, for politics, she says a mic was given elsewhere when Hon. Amila Prasad was speaking. Can you correct that wrong? There was no point of order; the mic was turned off and handed to another. That drew his response. Correct that and do not point fingers at others.

¶ 05 Hon. Deputy Speaker, there are many issues in this National Audit (Amendment) Bill. The Auditor General’s Department is an independent body and had the necessary powers. Now you propose an Oversight Review Committee—another entity. What then of the Auditor General and his Department—the independent body? Where will its decisions stand? With this oversight review committee, authority goes to another group headed by the President. Next, previously surcharges were imposed on public officers for negligence. Now you move away from “negligence” and introduce different grounds. Earlier, if there was fraud, corruption or misuse, matters went to court and punishments followed. With this new committee, how will this be done? How will officials work and face this?

¶ 06 Public officers must deal with ground realities—public needs, practical issues—and sometimes decisions can be right or wrong. If a committee arbitrarily surcharges public officials, or imposes excessive penalties, officers will be crushed. Therefore, when making this law, establish a clear administrative legal framework and strengthen the audit function and the Auditor General’s Department. That is more timely.

¶ 07 We know there are problems; fix them properly. Do not create a mechanism that frightens every officer and brings them under your thumb via this National Audit (Amendment) Bill. The goal should not be to weaken the State sector or do only what you wish. If we are to revive the economy and lift the country, we must empower public officials.

¶ 08 At this point, let me point clearly to another matter. You speak of audit, but for months you have failed to answer about the 323 containers. Who released those 323 containers? Who is responsible? Who will be punished?