The recent 4-21 tragedy was it the RESULT OF INEFFECTIVE REGULATIONS AND MONITORING?

We are all still quite stunned and dazed by the recent 4/21 tragedy which left 259 dead and 500 injured on holy Easter Sunday while attending Mass coupled with attacks on prominent five-star hotels; leaving many dead and injured; which had been well planned and undertaken by a group of Islamist terrorists with links to ISIS. 

This has shattered both the people and the economy sending the country backwards and many blaming the government for inaction. It was fortunate that the wise thoughts of His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Bishop of the Catholic Church, prevented a great disaster and turmoil in the country. The Bishop was supported by the Buddhist Mahanayake Theras of all Chapters, while many found fault with the government and those responsible for not taking preventive measures and permitting these sinful acts to take place on a holy day for the Christians.   

No country can prosper without good governance, accountability, efficient independent public service, no political interference, independent judiciary, good education at primary, secondary and tertiary levels, skill development and vocational training.

• This has shattered both the people and the economy sending the country backwards and many blaming the government for inaction
• The Bishop was supported by the Buddhist Mahanayake Theras of all Chapters, while many found fault with the government and those responsible for not taking preventive measures

Science, technology and education should be taken to the rural areas, those with experience and professional skills brought into politics, the public service with training and retraining of existing public servants, all public servants given military training to inculcate discipline and work ethics with ‘can do’ attitudes, love for the nation working bravely and fearlessly for the nation, stop corruption at all levels, remove political interference and punish, if found guilty.   

In a liberalized economy, the regulator has to be very strong and watchful as the good intentions of the liberalization can be used for various nefarious activities such as money laundering, as well as illegal activities. It is up to the banks and the regulators to verify these facts and prevent them.   

The government organizations which have been responsible in the reported events are the Registrar of Companies, BOI, Ministry of Vocational Training and Development; the Ministry of Higher Education and the UGC, Commercial Banks and the Central Bank as the Banks Regulator. Each of these institutions have a specific role to play but unfortunately are only approving institutions with no follow up action resulting in the approved organizations doing what they want and hiding behind an approval which was meant for something different and doing what it wants. If not for the tragedy of 4/21 these would not have ever come to light and by now would have commenced activities without any approvals as the political power was there.   

Science, technology and education should be taken to the rural areas, those with experience and professional skills brought into politics

The Registrar of Companies was one of the main organizations restructured for encouraging the setting up of new businesses and to facilitate doing business with ease. Today, many of the educational institutions set up to conduct foreign programmes have no regulatory authority checking on the quality and qualifications of lecturers, where the lectures are conducted, facilities for students such as computer labs, rest rooms, lunch room facilities, recreational facilities, library and other infrastructure facilities, quality control etc. The Ministry of Higher Education is only interested in the approval of local higher educational institutes whereas all others go scot free unless some matter like the Madrasa Schools come up, which will likely come under the Ministry of Education. One wonders how they were set up, the syllabus, teachers, curriculum, language which they could do on their own as there is no one controlling them.   

The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI), grants approval to foreign investments and, in this case, the University in Batticaloa, was an educational project approved by the BOI as per the approval granted by the Tertiary and Vocational Educational Ministry. The BOI would have approved a foreign direct investment where a foreigner would have invested and they should provide these details and work with the Commercial Banks to verify the funding that has come into Sri Lanka. If the land was given by the government or purchased from the government, then details of all transactions need to be obtained on the ownership of the land; and also, if there was foreign ownership and restrictions regarding the ownership of the land by the company.   
Additionally, the TVEC should give details of the courses approved and what they have done after they got approval. Moreover, whether they have violated any of the TVEC approval conditions. The press reports state that an application was lodged with the Ministry of Higher Education to set up an University. This needs to be investigated together with any political pressure that was brought to change the status of approval from the TVEC to an University. Additionally, whether the original building plans were submitted to TVEC and BOI approved. In the event that they have deviated from this, it needs to be investigated.   

BOI also gives approval for foreign lecturers to come and teach at this Institution. If so, was this done by them or TVEC? Details need to be obtained, the purpose for which they came and how their salaries were paid – locally or from overseas? Did BOI give any duty free facilities to the project; if so, were they in agreement with the BOI and was a reconciliation done? If not, this should be done immediately to determine compliance with original estimates and that no leakages have occurred and no changes from the original plans. The liberalization of the Foreign Exchange was carried out to promote business and also to receive more foreign direct investment. However, what has happened is a very different type of investment using political influence at each point.   

The export of agricultural items such as spices under the Free Trade Agreement with India could assist local farmers to export spices under quota to India under special rules and regulations. For example, the initial export of spices were 5,000 tonnes but the current exports were 10,000 tonnes. This needs verification and confirmation by the Ministry of Agriculture to ascertain the difference between local production and exports, thereby verifying whether the talked of imports are coming into the country and re-exported with Sri Lankan labels. If this has been done, then verification at the point of entry has to be obtained from Customs and Export verification by the Department of Commerce. Thereafter, these statements need to be audited by the Auditor General to verify local production and exports under the FTA.. Equally important is that the Commerce Department prepares an Annual Report on exports under the FTA, especially to India on spices and other agricultural produce to determine whether the local farmers have benefited as a result of the FTA. It is important to clear the doubt that large amounts of spices such as cardamom, pepper, cloves, arecanuts and turmeric are imported into the country and re-exported.   

In the recent Central Bank Report 2018 it states that “auction prices of pepper dropped significantly by around 30 percent due to the declining world market trend and the issue due to the importation of low quality pepper that was re-exported under trade agreements.” The Central Bank further states that “the importation of minor export crops including pepper, cocoa, turmeric and ginger increased by 12% and import expenditure increased by 8.9% in 2018.” This needs immediate investigation to determine how such irregular exports under the FTA took place and the harm done to local farmers as well as the violation of the FTA with India.   

The Madrasa Schools need to be investigated as to whether they were legally registered and if so, how they were set up. The names of the Board of Management together with the funding for these schools need to be obtained. Was there foreign funding that came in and, if so, from whom with details of Banks and whether there was no monitoring of these foreign funds coming into the country. What was the syllabus taught in these schools and was it in compliance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Education? If they were different, they need to be investigated and who was responsible for this. How were the text books obtained? Were they imported or where were they printed? Were all 1,300 schools managed by one authority and, if so how was this done without any approval? This would also mean a large amount of funding coming from either foreign or local sources and needs to be investigated. If they were illegal schools, not complying with local rules and regulations, then the respective government agencies, ministries, government servants are answerable. If politicians were involved, they too need to be answerable. These Madrasa schools are considered a grave threat to the normal education system of a country.   

The Madrasa Schools need to be investigated as to whether they were legally registered and if so, how they were set up

If the Copper Manufacturing Industry was an approved industry under the Ministry of Industries, then details should be obtained together with the input and output and whether any items were to be exported under the FTA to India? Details of all items produced by the factory and raw materials consumed need to be obtained. The audited Balance Sheets, Profit and Loss accounts have to be obtained and scrutinized on its operations. Additionally, all details of bank accounts, deposits, loans, imports, exports, and sales should be scrutinized. Since this industry obtained all its raw materials from the IDB, all necessary approvals and whether the correct procedures were followed need to be investigated. Since the IDB serves the small and medium sectors issuing 2 to 3 tons of raw material to its registered manufacturers, to this company it has issued 50 tonnes, for a large factory and must be investigated. Also, did they enjoy the same price as the small holders who are assisted by the IDB. At the market price, the loss would have been incurred by the IDB giving this at subsidized price. Was this issuance of large stocks reported to the Ministry of Defence or the authority concerned, such as the Army, making them aware of such a large scale industry, to determine if it was a security threat? Were regular visits made to the factory to determine what they were producing and the purpose?   

Were the bombs used in the major destruction on Easter Sunday manufactured in this factory, if so, who is responsible for issuing approval of this industry?   

If all these matters are investigated, it will be possible to determine who was responsible. Many fingers are pointed at politicians and in fairness to them, it is essential that independent investigations are carried out without political interference. All these issues will enable investigators to a great extent to expeditiously determine who was really responsible.