Kudu container: Public service rules observed in the breach

The hottest talking point today is the issue of a letter by the Prime Minister’s coordinating secretary, requesting waiver of demurrage and other port charges for an importer of a container of ‘ Kudu’.

While Minister Wimal Weerawansa, UNP Parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera and some political monks have come to the defence of Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne, some opposition figures, especially the JHU leader, Ven. Omalpe Sobitha, are demanding his resignation. These two factions, both for and against, seem to be blissfully ignorant of the procedure that should have been followed.

Firstly, private secretaries or coordinating secretaries and staff are not public servants and are appointed by the respective ministers for the services rendered by them during elections. One of their main duties is to convey the minister’s instructions to the ministry secretary for necessary action and it is left to the ministry secretary either to implement or reject the instructions, depending on the legality of such orders or availability of funds.

It is worthy to mention one instance where President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is also the Minister for Finance, instructed the Treasury Secretary to pay the enhanced pension to those who retired before 2006. The Treasury Secretary did not carry out this order due to paucity of funds. Then again, President Rajapaksa requested the CEB to give relief to those low and middle income groups consuming 60-90 units. This has fallen on the deaf ears of the Minister for Power and Energy and the CEB.

I would wish to relate my experience while in the public service. It was in the late 1960s, when I was summoned by Public Works Minister Michael Siriwardena and ordered to sanction an estimate to metal and tar a section of a road. At this time, the Permanent Ministry Secretary Rajendran was with the minister. Turning to the minister, he said in his Oxford accent, “Sir, that order should be given by me as I am the Chief Accounting Officer responsible to the Public Accounts Committee.” Then he asked me to meet him with the relevant papers. Going through, and finding funds of the Block Vote, under which this estimate had to be sanctioned, was insufficient, he made a minute in the file to consider it after three months. That was when the Public Service in Sri Lanka was considered the best in Asia.

These instructions and procedures are yet in force, but followed in the breach, to satisfy politicians. Mention should be made here of a case where a senior secretary to a ministry together with the minister were charged with bribery by the Bribery Commission and before the findings concluded, the minister died and the secretary was dismissed for carrying out an illegal order of the minister.

Going back to the duties of a minister’s private staff, apart from conveying instructions of the minister to the ministry secretary, they have to see to the needs of the electorate which the minister represents and arrange meetings.

In this instance whether the Prime Minister requested the Coordinating Secretary to issue such an order or the Coordinating Secretary acted on his own is a matter best left alone but the officer who carried out the instructions of the Coordinating Secretary is at fault and should be dealt with.

This incident of “Kudu” should open the eyes of the government, specially the Public Administration Minister and remind all public officers of the existing procedure, to strictly enforce and adhere to. I would go one step further and say educate our ministers, members of Parliament to avoid such incidents. Perhaps if this matter is handled by Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga it will be more effective. G.A.D. Sirimal Boralesgamuwa