Minister commends Govt bodies for annual reports
by Uditha KUMARASINGHE
Senior
Minister for Human Resources D E W Gunasekara said that all Government
institutions had submitted their Annual Reports for 2010 while all
financial accounts for 2011 have also been finalised.
“When I took over COPE in June, 2010, Government departments and
Ministries had not produced annual reports for 10 years.
Therefore, I am happy that my efforts as COPE chairman had made a
direct impact to streamline the functions of State institutions”, the
Minister told the Sunday Observer. Asked whether the Government has
taken action to implement COPE recommendations and prosecute those
responsible for corruption and misappropriation of Government funds,
Minister Gunasekara said that a large number of chairmen had been
removed and many changes had been made in the Boards.
In addition, disciplinary action had been taken against those who
were responsible and some cases had been referred to the CID and the
Bribery Commission. It is progressing and we are also monitoring it, the
Minister said.
The Minister said he was only the COPE chairman and COPE was a part
of the legislature. The Legislature is not bent on punishment.
Disciplinary punishment can be meted out by the Executive and legal
punishment by the judiciary.
”When my task was over, I presented the COPE report to Parliament and
the Cabinet. The Cabinet has decided to implement its recommendations
and it is now being implemented.
We are now re-summoning all Heads of institutions to inquire whether
they had implemented our recommendations, he said. |