Cabinet Ministers Made Helpless scarecrows- Sajith

Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa said that the government has issued a circular enabling   Secretaries of Ministries to carry out large scale development projects without cabinet approval.

 

He said that giving such permission for Ministry Secretaries to bypass the cabinet minister paves the way for corruption and turns the minister into a helpless scarecrow.
The Leader of the Opposition said that this is not a step taken to fast track  or strengthen development but a step towards getting to big time fraud .such as the 'sugar scam ' 

 

The Treasury Secretary S. R. Attygalle  has  been empowered to issue Letters of Credit (Collateral), Letters of Comfort and Treasury Guarantees within the applicable statutory limit and  is also vested with powers to resolve issues with regard to Cabinet approved projects with the involvement of the bilateral and multilateral agencies through policy dialogues on operational and tactical matters. The Treasury Secretary’s decision will be considered to be final,