Sri Lankan government officials misspent or misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of tsunami aid after failing to follow instructions, the island’s auditor general said Monday.
Officials gave millions of rupees in tsunami assistance to thousands of families who were not directly affected by the Indian Ocean island’s worst natural disaster in memory.
There were others amongst the half a million displaced by the tsunami who did not get the rations they were entitled to.
Auditor General S.C. Mayadunne put the misappropriation down to confusion stemming from multiple instructions issued by different government departments.
But Mayadunne’s report, posted on the Web site www.auditorgeneral.lk, also details instances of apparent corruption, including the disappearance of aid materials.
“As far as we see it, it is a misinterpretation of the ... instructions,” Mayadunne told Reuters. “Therefore, when you misinterpret ... it is a misappropriation. I should not say it is corruption.”
But Sri Lankan analysts suggest the tsunami aid is fuelling patron-client networks with funds and material being diverted to bolster political support for elected officials at both national and local levels.
International donors have pledged over $3 billion in aid to Sri Lanka, around a third of which has been firmly committed so far according to the island’s tsunami reconstruction body.
“There has been widespread misappropriation of funds. Initially, it was understandable because the proper system and controls were not in place, but even after the emergency phase was over, the irregularities continued,” Mayadunne was quoted by weekend press reports as saying.
Hundreds of millions of rupees worth of aid collected locally by government agencies was still sitting in bank accounts by July, and in some cases had been invested in fixed deposits, Mayadunne added in the report.
“Test checks revealed instances such as spending only a small portion of the funds collected locally for the purposes, retaining collections in general deposit accounts without being used for the intended purposes,” the report said.
It also found that by the end of July, seven months after the tsunami killed nearly 40,000 people and flattened entire towns and villages along the island’s seaboard, only a fraction of pledged foreign aid had been spent on intended key sectors.
Only 8.2 percent of $120.5 million pledged for the ravaged fisheries sector had been spent, while 11.2 percent of $311.5 million intended for housing and urban development had been used.
Mayadunne, who is tasked with auditing the accountability of the government and reports directly to parliament, is working on a comprehensive audit of Sri Lanka’s handling of tsunami aid.
Aid fiasco in Sri Lanka [September 28, 2005]
Officials gave millions of rupees in tsunami assistance to thousands of families who were not directly affected by the Indian Ocean island’s worst natural disaster in memory.
There were others amongst the half a million displaced by the tsunami who did not get the rations they were entitled to.
Auditor General S.C. Mayadunne put the misappropriation down to confusion stemming from multiple instructions issued by different government departments.
But Mayadunne’s report, posted on the Web site www.auditorgeneral.lk, also details instances of apparent corruption, including the disappearance of aid materials.
“As far as we see it, it is a misinterpretation of the ... instructions,” Mayadunne told Reuters. “Therefore, when you misinterpret ... it is a misappropriation. I should not say it is corruption.”
But Sri Lankan analysts suggest the tsunami aid is fuelling patron-client networks with funds and material being diverted to bolster political support for elected officials at both national and local levels.
International donors have pledged over $3 billion in aid to Sri Lanka, around a third of which has been firmly committed so far according to the island’s tsunami reconstruction body.
“There has been widespread misappropriation of funds. Initially, it was understandable because the proper system and controls were not in place, but even after the emergency phase was over, the irregularities continued,” Mayadunne was quoted by weekend press reports as saying.
Hundreds of millions of rupees worth of aid collected locally by government agencies was still sitting in bank accounts by July, and in some cases had been invested in fixed deposits, Mayadunne added in the report.
“Test checks revealed instances such as spending only a small portion of the funds collected locally for the purposes, retaining collections in general deposit accounts without being used for the intended purposes,” the report said.
It also found that by the end of July, seven months after the tsunami killed nearly 40,000 people and flattened entire towns and villages along the island’s seaboard, only a fraction of pledged foreign aid had been spent on intended key sectors.
Only 8.2 percent of $120.5 million pledged for the ravaged fisheries sector had been spent, while 11.2 percent of $311.5 million intended for housing and urban development had been used.
Mayadunne, who is tasked with auditing the accountability of the government and reports directly to parliament, is working on a comprehensive audit of Sri Lanka’s handling of tsunami aid.
Aid fiasco in Sri Lanka [September 28, 2005]
