It was revealed at a meeting of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) that the Construction Industry Development Authority (CIDA) had spent Rs. 15.01 million on legal proceedings relating to a lawsuit filed by a Director of Finance sent on compulsory leave in 2021.
It was further disclosed that Rs. 600,000 had been paid per court appearance to an attorney representing the Authority in the case.
The court ordered that the relevant Director of Finance be reinstated with full back wages and allowances, but the Authority appealed the decision to the Supreme Court and legal proceedings are ongoing.
The COPE pointed out that it was evident the actions taken during this period had caused inconvenience to the officer due to personal agendas, resulting in the misuse of public funds.
This matter came to light when COPE, chaired by MP Dr Nishantha Samarasinghe, met in Parliament on Oct 8 to examine the Auditor General’s Reports for 2022 and 2023 and review the current performance of the Construction Industry Development Authority.
The committee also noted that although an engineering estimate of Rs. 5.59 million had been prepared to repair the roof of the Authority’s main building, it had not been approved by a qualified engineer.
Officsufficient funds, which made it difficult to find a contractor. As a result, a contractor was hired at the lowest possible cost. However, the COPE emphasised that even if the cost was lower, the proper procedure must be followed, and such issues should not recur in the future.
Discussions were also held regarding the approval of a new cadre and existing vacancies in essential positions.
The COPE meeting was attended by MPs Dayasiri Jayasekara, Sujeeva Senasinghe, Samanmalee Gunasinghe, Sunil Rajapaksha, Sudath Balagalla, Chandima Hettiarachchi, Thilina Samarakoon, Dharmapriya Wijesinghe, Dinesh Hemanta, and Lakmali Hemachandra.