By Raisa Wickrematunge - The government is unlikely to carry out a formal investigation to determine the fate of millions of rupees of tsunami aid which went missing or was used for unrelated projects.
Lal Sarath Kumara, a media spokesman for the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, said to his knowledge no investigations were being done on the matter.
The comments came following a statement from Transparency International (TI) on December 26 charging that 603.4 million dollars, meant for tsunami relief following the devastating tsunami of 2004, had instead been used for unrelated projects.
An additional 471.9 million dollars appeared to be missing, TI alleged. They have called for an audit to explain the discrepancies in figures.
Executive Director of Transparency International (Sri Lanka) J.C Weliamuna said that the organisation had brought the issue of misappropriation of tsunami relief funds to the notice of the authorities.
Weliamuna said that as a civil society organisation, TI did not have the executive powers to ensure a proper investigation was done. “We have no mandate to sue, but can only bring these issues to the notice of the authorities, and hope they are addressed accordingly,” Weliamuna told The Sunday Leader.
Secretary, Ministry of Nation Building, W. K. K Kumarasiri, said he was not aware of the TI statement which was highly publicized in both local and international media.
© The Sunday Leader
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