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Axe
over CEA, as Chairman battles DG In focus are Chairman Tilak Ranaviraja and Director-General Manel Jayamanna who has been at the helm of the CEA since May 2003. Alleged arbitrary decisions, unfair appointments, misuse of CEA vehicles and general interference in the administration of the CEA by Mr. Ranaviraja, are some of the issues that are surfacing while he has initiated an investigation into the transactions of the DG, especially with regard to financial vouchers and contract documents of the Netherlands Fund programme for 'Capacity building for the regional environmental programme', The Sunday Times understands. It is learnt that DG Jayamanna, who was responsible for revamping the CEA and on whose corporate plan, 'Road map for caring for the environment', the CEA was able to secure funding amounting to Euros 3 million from the Netherlands government, may not seek an extension once her two-year contract comes to an end on April 30. "The systems set up by me are crumbling and staff morale is down. Therefore, I am not hoping to seek an extension," said DG Jayamanna when contacted by The Sunday Times. "When I joined the CEA the practice was to hire vehicles in addition to the pool vehicles already available, costing the CEA Rs. 75,000-85,000 per 10 days. This caused a severe drain on the Treasury allocations for the CEA, which are public funds. Bringing in a system of advanced planning, combined work schedules and allocation of vehicles on requirement, the system was streamlined. As a result the number of vehicles hired from outside came to zero in March 2004." The Sunday Times reliably learns that though there had been a few minor disagreements between Chairman Ranaviraja and DG Jayamanna, since he was appointed in June 2004, matters came to a head about a week after the tsunami, on January 4, when he demanded that five vehicles and 10 people from the CEA be sent immediately to the Ministry of Public Security, Law and Order. As the vehicles were needed for post-tsunami work, the DG had refused to do so but Chairman Ranaviraja had overruled her, forcing the CEA to once again hire vehicles, it is learnt. Soon after the December 26 tsunami, the CEA had got activated. While drawing up a short, medium and long-term plan in dealing with the environment in the aftermath of the tsunami, CEA staffers had also been heavily involved at ground level helping the survivors. "In the areas affected by the tsunami, we helped people to identify and dispose of bodies. We also provided temporary sanitary facilities for the displaced, collected garbage, cleared and chlorinated wells and educated people on debris disposal. We advised them to collect the debris in open areas, recycle as much as possible and found places to dump the balance," says DG Jayamanna, who has worked in the Planning Ministry for 20 years and another 12 years at UNDP as the officer-in-charge of environment and disaster management. When she left UNDP she was Assistant Resident Representative. Referring to the problems at the CEA, sources told The Sunday Times a major issue has been the recent appointment of the Director of Human Resource Development as Acting Deputy Director-General. This DDG post had been vacant since May 2004 and considered redundant under the revamping programme of the CEA and is to be scrapped. The appointment, The Sunday Times learns, has not yet been approved by the other two members of the CEA Board, architect Ashley de Vos and Sunil Sarath Perera (Working Director of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board). "The Director/HRD who has only his ALs and 18 years of work experience as a clerk was brought in by the Chairman. Recently he was appointed DDG/HRD with all the perks including the allocation of a vehicle. This was done to implement the Chairman's instructions bypassing the Director-General," a source revealed on assurance of anonymity. Meanwhile, a legal assistant recruited by the CEA recently has been at the CEA office just for a day. "Since then she has been at Mr. Ranaviraja's Ministry of Public Security, Law and Order," another source added. Others quote the National Environmental Act which states that the DG shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority and shall, subject to the "general direction and control of the Chairman", be charged with the direction of the business of the Authority, the organization and execution of the powers, functions and duties of the Authority and the administration and control of the employees of the Authority.
No misuse or abuse of vehicles: Ranaviraja There has been no misuse or abuse of vehicles by him, he stresses, countering the allegations made by CEA sources. He explains in detail how when he was made Commissioner-General of Essential Services after the tsunami, he recruited 10 volunteers to man the 24-hour operations room. In addition to being CEA Chairman, Mr. Ranaviraja wears many hats - those of Secretary of the Ministry of Public Security, Law and Order, Commissioner-General of Essential Services and Chairman of the Task Force for Rehabilitation. "The only request these volunteers made was for transport," he says. "Under the Public Security Act I had the power to obtain the services of any public servant, facilities or vehicles required by me to perform the duties of this assignment. But I never used any of those powers. Before, I went outside to any other corporation or govt. department I thought I will take two vehicles from the CEA and another two from the Water Board. I think it is not unreasonable to obtain two vehicles especially as my work as Commissioner-General also involved a certain amount of environmental work." All payments for the two vehicles including diesel bills and OT for the drivers were paid from allocations set out for the Commissioner-General. Mr. Ranaviraja points out that as CEA Chairman he is entitled to a vehicle but has never used one from there nor has he taken a salary or allowance from the CEA. He believes that the two vehicles have been returned to the CEA in early March and that no vehicles had been leased by the CEA during this period. "They (CEA) had sold eight vehicles in 2004. That money had been used as recurrent expenditure, which is highly irregular. When they sell, the money must be returned to the Treasury and the Treasury asked permission to buy new vehicles. When the CEA started regional offices they had transferred vehicles from head office without buying new ones. Due to this reason there may be a shortage of vehicles," he says. Dealing with the allegation that he was making arbitrary appointments, the CEA Chairman says both posts of Director/HRD and DDG/Administration and Finance have been vacant since 2003. "When I made inquiries I gathered that the DG was purposely not filling the position, for her to use that position so that she has a better control over the staff. Due to this serious lapses were observed in financial management as well as human resources management because the DG has no experience in these areas as the highest post she has held in public service was Asst. Director National Planning." Then the CEA Chairman obtained the services of an experienced SLAS officer who has eight years in the SLAS and has worked as Asst. Secy. of the Ministries of Mahaweli Development, Irrigation, Power and Energy and also the Ministry of Defence. Calling him one of the best officers he has met during his public service career, Mr. Ranaviraja lists out his achievements -- passing Class II of the Clerical Service as the first in the island, passing Class I as No. 12 from all over the island and getting through the limited competitive exam of the SLAS. "Recently I felt it is required to fill the vacancy of DDG/Admin and Finance since I came across serious violations of financial/administration regulations," he says explaining that as he failed to get a suitable officer, he appointed the Director/HRD to "cover" the post of DDG/Admin and Finance. He is not qualified to be appointed "acting" so "covering" the work is what we do in the public service until another officer is appointed, says Mr. Ranaviraja adding, "I disagree completely that he is inexperienced or unqualified. In fact DG praised him to me several times but the problems started when he pointed out the admin and financial irregularities." With regard to the legal assistant who has worked only a day at the CEA, he says he needed a few good officers to work in the Ops Centre and she was unhappy at the CEA because the DG had insulted her. "She wanted to resign. I allowed her to work here and she is now heading the scaled down Centre for National Operations taking care of the internally displaced persons," he adds. Dutch
Embassy says... The most recent Dutch funding of Euro 3 million granted in 2003 to the Environmental Ministry and the CEA for institutional strengthening and capacity building for environmental programmes in Sri Lanka, is now being disbursed in part support for the East Coast Community Development Project of the ADB, of which certain tasks are being implemented by the CEA. "2005 is a crucial year for the programme and though governments have changed during the implementation of the programme, the most important link has been DG Manel Jayamanna who has translated vision into action," says First Secretary Jan Huesken of the Netherlands Embassy. There was an understanding with the ministry secretary when the programme was initiated that the DG would also act as Programme Director, he says stressing that it was an honorary position without any remuneration. "She is performing excellently, planning, motivating, stimulating and guiding the CEA staff." Explaining that DG Jayamanna is committed, capable and honest, he expresses concern that if changes, like senior staff turnover are not carefully managed, "it could affect the implementation of the programme in this crucial year". He cites an example of her initiative. Immediately after the tsunami, DG Jayamanna had decided to create an Environmental Emergency Fund to help address issues at ground level without delay. "It was an excellent initiative." With regard to financial matters, he says accountability is of vital importance and the usual practices should be adopted but "we have absolutely no reason whatsoever to believe that any money was lost". The Netherlands has had long links going back nearly 15 years with the CEA through the Environmental Ministry, especially providing funding for the management of wetlands in Sri Lanka, a project that had been phased out in June 2002, but which provided the basis for the current programme support. Now the aim and hope of the Netherlands, through its support for the environment, is to assist Sri Lanka to make environment a core issue in the planning of development programmes for the country. "We do not think environment should be considered as a hobby for people in Colombo. Environment management should be an integral part of mainstream development planning in this beautiful country, as its abundant natural resources provide the basis for any development activity," adds Mr. Huesken. |
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