Corruption is rife in several sectors: Dr. Harsha de Silva
Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa is carrying out projects initiated by Ranil Wickremesinghe in 2003, United National Party Parliamentarian Dr. Harsha de Silvastressed.
“What the Defence Secretary is doing is taking ad hoc projects from the Singaporean plan that Ranil Wickremesinghe came up with in 2003 and implementing it. They are just paving it with red bricks and saying we did it,” asserted de Silva.
He also spoke about immediate measures needed to be taken to resurrect the country and revive its economy under a new administration.
Following are excerpts from the interview:
UNP MP Dr. Harsha de Silva
Q: We are a few days away from the presidential election. How would you describethe current situation?
A:We haven’t been this optimistic about an outright victory since 2001. We are absolutely confident that we will carry this with a significant majority. Our poll predictions,conducted scientifically by various academics and organisations, all indicate a Maithripala Sirisena win. 
In the history of Sri Lanka we have never seen this many defections from a ruling party coalition. With Faizer Mustapha’s crossover we have 25 parliamentarians.If we look at the next level – provincial councils, pradeshiya sabha members and municipal councillors – it’s a massive exodus. If you look at this without any political colour, it is obvious that the present President will not be able to make it.
This is going to be the first election where the people will vote on policies. The voter is now thinkingabout what is good for this nation and what is good for generations to come. Mahinda Rajapaksa is trying to scare the people by claiming that he is the only person who can protect this country. If this is the case then this country will have to go on with him forever. But people are not going to buy that argument.
Ours is going to be the most stable Government ever. Never have we had two major parties coming together to form a Government. This is a national unity government. People are now convinced that we can work together in the medium-term.
Q: Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva has said that a national unity government will not be formed?
A: Soon after the 8 January election there will be massive defections from the Mahinda Rajapaksa camp. Already they are way below their two-thirds majority. Once they lose the presidency no one will to be in that camp. Watch what is going to happen.
Q: Maithripala Sirisena’s manifesto says that the new Government will present an interim budget. Does that mean that if he is elected he will not implement the 2015 Budget presented by President Rajapaksa?
A: The Rajapaksa administration cannot implement that budget. They are in serious trouble. The 2014 Budget is not going to be met at all. We will commission an independent audit of the Treasury immediately. I hope it will not be like what happened in Greece.
Let me give you one example. Governor Nivard Cabraal said that the external debt figure is 30% of the GDP. That is completely wrong and Deputy Governor W.A.Wijewardena said it is 60% of the GDP.
I totally agree with Wijewardena. We have argued and questioned this in Parliament. The budget deficit numbers are going to be impossiblebecause the revenue numbers are wrong, expenditure numbers are wrong; debt has been shifted from a consolidated account and hidden in various institutions and corporations.
Once an audit is done revenue growth for January to September 2015 is only 5.6% over January to September 2013. According to the Budget, revenue growth for the entire year is 21.5% over 2013. They are expecting 21.5% revenue growth over the last full year but for the nine months the figure is only 5.6%. They will fall way short. All these numbers are not going to be true.
Honestly, I am nervous. At no time in the past have we had officials who’ve been so politicised, both at the Central Bank and at the Finance Ministry, that they portray a completely different picture.
We have a fair sense of what is actually happening. When the Budget was debated, I told them not to shift debt from the Treasury outside to various corporations. I said this before they did it. However, we will have to reallocate these things and gather accurate details that we don’t have. We need to assess the actual situation.
Only after a proper audit is conducted will we be able to tell the people what the real situation is. Then we will be able to tell the country, the world, the IMF and others what the true situation is. We have to start from there. What has been shown to the country and the outside world is not the true situation.
Q: How prepared are you to handle this situation and rectify things? From where will you find the funds?
A: Overall, our plan will be to maintain macro variables at reasonable levels. We want to have low inflation, low interest rates and stable exchange rates. Whatever we do, we will not let that impact interest rates, inflation and exchange rates. We have to maintain the stability of these three variables. We have to come up with an innovative mechanism to treat the problem.
Amal Kumarage is a professor specialising in transportation. He has been in this field for decades. According to him, in 2014, corruption in road projects was Rs. 200 billion. Rs. 200 billion in road projects only.We have to take note of this situation.
If we look at expenditure for education it is only Rs. 47 billion for 2015, higher education Rs. 41 billion and health Rs. 100 billion. If you add all three of these ministries it is still less than Rs. 200 billion. This is unimaginable corruption. Just imagine if we saved that amount, we could double the Education Ministry, Higher Education Ministry and Health Ministry allocation. These projects could have been completed for less than half the price.
Q: The Opposition Leader has said that under the new Government he will cancel the Colombo Port City project. Is that the stand of the UNP as well?
A:That is true. We stand by that. I don’t think we need to take on projects that are detrimental to us. This question was raised by small- and medium-scale entrepreneurs in the tourist industry. They said that due to the Colombo Port City project, the coastline from Hikkaduwa to Kalpitiya will get affected and if that happened all small and medium projects would have to be closed down.
As a result millions of jobs will be lost. These entrepreneurs asked the Opposition Leaders’response.It is in that context that the answer was given. But then Mr. Wickremesinghe clarified his answer at the private sector business meeting. He said we have to evaluate things and see what the environmental assessment isand what the economic impact is. If things are really negative then we will have to restructure this. That was Mr. Wickremesinghe’s response. If it generates 1000 jobs but loses a million jobs what’s the point? This is not about trying to take revenge against anybody.
Q: Will the development projects of this Government be continued under a new administration?
A: These development projects will certainly continue. We have the Western Province Metropolitan Mega City project. What Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa does is take ad hoc projects from the Singaporean plan that Ranil Wickremesinghe came up with in 2003 and implement them.
The Defence Secretary is not doing the whole project. He is just taking things from here and there and doing it. The Western Province Metropolis Plan covers three thick books. The drawings are done. The transport plans are done. It is the UNP which built SriJayawardenepura Kotte. They are just paving it with red bricks and saying we did it. Who took the Parliament there? Who took Sethsiripaya there? Who created that extension of the city?
Even with the Ports City project, Ranil Wickremesinghe said that if we run out of all available land and if there was a requirement perhaps some areas could be reclaimed. The issue is before available land is fully utilised we are reclaiming. We don’t know what the purpose is.There is enough land. There are acres of land which can be utilised before reclaiming the sea.
The prioritisation is completely wrong. The Dehiwala and Nugegoda overhead bridges came after nearly 100 years. But in Hambantota, even before they fixed traffic lights they have constructed overhead bridges.
Q: But their argument is that due to the southern extension of the port, the land will naturally be reclaimed over time.
A:We have seen those reports. That amount is very small and certainly not 580 acres. Soil and sand will get deposited. That is a natural scenario. But this is not. They are building roads into the ocean.
Q: But most projects have already been initiated and are at the implementation level. How can you stop them?
A: These projects were signed by falsifying documents and figures. Continuing these projects would be a crime. If bribes were given to bump up the cost by 150% then we have the right to take action against people who fraudulently increased the taxpayers’expense for these things.
I am not talking about odious loans. Several countries have resorted to international arbitration on odious loansand have either stopped or negotiated because those loans were not given for the benefit of the people. They were given for two or three people in corrupt regimes to get rich.
The total expense of Maithripala Sirisena’s program is between Rs. 300-400 billion and that includes the Rs. 50 billion already allocated from the Rs. 150 billion needed to increase public servant salaries. If Mahinda Rajapaksa can put Rs. 50 billion already for next year we can throw the Rs. 70 billion. It is not something unimaginable.
Q: How can you assure that there will be no corruption under a new Government? You will be working with almost the same set of people that ran the Rajapaksa administration?
A: That is the most important question. Rogues don’t have a colour; there are green rogues, there are blue rogues and there will also be orange rogues. This is the real issue. How will we stop this? There are two approaches.
One is by providing citizens with the right to information. The other one is that the first minister who is caught in corruption will be dealt with by the law. The signal will be sent out that no matter how powerful anyone is, if they are caught committing a corrupt act they will be dealt with by the law. Once those two things fall into place in the new era of information; it will be a self-cleaning process.
No politician can give a guarantee that our guys will not rob. How can I say that? How do I know? At an overall level, discretion must be reduced. Currently there is so much discretion. Rules must be applied.
Q: You have been criticising corrupt officials at the Treasury and the Central Bank. If elected how will your Government deal with such officials?
A: We don’t want to be vindictive with anyone. Only a year ago we had a senior official at the Department of Census and Statistics who publicly said he was forced to change the GDP figure. This case is now in courts because he was sacked.
We are not vindictive people. We will have to deal with it according to the existing rules and regulations the officials are bound by. If we take the EPF, I know that we are yet to finish the 2010 examination of the EPF in the Public Accounts Committee because every date we get is cancelled or postponed.
Even checks and balances in Parliament are not happening. Even the COPE and Public Accounts Committee are headed by government ministers. It is totally undemocratic.
Next time no minister will head the two main committees that look into the activities of the Government. Where we can take legal action we will do so. Who authorised the purchase of Grain Elevators? How was that decision made? Who changed the decision to purchase stocks of companies that made no money?These are complex matters that have to be dealtwith legally.
