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Auditors facing the acid fact
Monday's attack in Kandy deals severe blow to corruption-busting operations in state institutions

'Police not active'
While Mr. Ambanwala is fighting for his life at the Kandy Hospital, investigations into the attack appear to be making little headway.
No arrests have been made with regard to the incident although the victim has named several suspects in complaints he made when he received threatening calls.
"He has informed the police that he suspects three officers at the Education Ministry of the province, but they have not been questioned because of their political connections," said H.M.K. Herath, President of the Sri Lanka Audit Examiners' Service Association.
He said the associations had made several representations to the President and the Prime Minister and hoped they would take some positive action.

By Sunil Jayatillake and Chamintha Thilakarathna
Like cancer kills good cells in human body, corruption kills good in the body politic.
This statement appears to be more appropriate in the case of Sri Lanka, where a senior government audit official last week came under an acid attack for highlighting corruption in public institutions.
The attack on Central Province's Chief Auditor H. M. L. Ambanwala is certainly an attempt to intimidate corruption busters who are now seeking a government assurance for them to continue with their work.
"If we are to continue our duties, we need assurance that our lives will not be in danger," K. D. Jayasuriya, President of the Sri Lanka Audit Service Association said.

He claimed that audit officers had been threatened with death when they probed state accounts. "As auditors we are expected to make sure that public resources are not misused by government officials. We have authority to look into all deals and question every aspect of expense.

But if we are threatened by corrupt officials, we will not be able to perform this noble duty," said Mr. Jayasuriya who is also an Assistant Auditor General.
He said that though the attack on Mr. Ambanwala was not the first time an audit officer had been threatened with, the situation could go out of hand if authorities did not bring the culprits to justice.

The attack on Mr. Ambanwala occurred on Monday when he was returning home after work. An unidentified gang ambushed him and threw acid on his body from close range. He was admitted to the Kandy Hospital where it was discovered that the officer's left eye had been totally damaged and his lungs and liver have also been injured due to the acid consumption.

He also suffered severe burn injuries all over his body. He is still in a critical condition and barely able to speak. He has been placed under heavy security. However, his attackers did not stop there. His two daughters who are at home - his wife is away on a foreign scholarship - have been receiving anonymous calls, warning them that their father will lose his right eye as well if he continues with his audit probes.

Auditors and investigators believe that the attack was linked to a series of audit inspections which point to massive financial irregularities in the Central Province administration, especially in the ministries of education, housing and highways.
Mr. Ambanwala had been rigorously probing the Provincial Education Ministry's financial dealings, which have also been questioned by the Public Accounts Committee of parliament.

The Public Accounts Committee last year raised queries with regard to 126 payments to the tune of nearly Rs. 40 million made between 1998 and 2000. In one instance, the ministry had spent Rs. 3.4 million to purchase musical instruments, which turned out to be defective.

On another occasion, Rs. 30,000 had been allegedly paid to an interdicted officer.
The PAC had decided, in the wake of its investigations, to take action against the internal auditor of the ministry for his failure to report irregularities. The Chief Education Secretary of the province and the Provincial Education Director are to appear before the PAC on June 5.

The auditors claimed that a high official in the ministry's accounts department had instructed the staff not to release files or information to audit officers without his permission. According to auditors, Mr. Ambanwala had taken a strong stand against the abuse of public resources, including state vehicles, by politicians during the last general elections.

When these irregularities were brought to light, three top officers were interdicted and the auditors believe this incident may have been the cause for Monday's attack.
On the eve of April New Year, Mr. Ambanwala received several telephone calls. The unidentified caller had warned that he would settle his scores with Mr. Ambanwala for making his life miserable.

Though Mr. Ambanwala made a police complaint, no security was given to him. Neither were police able to trace the caller. Coincidentally, on the day of the assault, one of the interdicted officers was reinstated though the inquiry against him has still not been concluded, ministry sources said.

Meanwhile, two interdicted officials against whom inquiries are pending, have been sent on retirement in violation of Article 12 (ii) of the Pensions Act. This article states that no officer who is under inquiry shall be sent on retirement, until the inquiry has been concluded, and that no inquiry shall be held against any officer whose term of office has been extended.

This is not the first time that audit officers have been threatened or attacked. A couple of years ago, in Puttalam, several audit officers including a pregnant officer were assaulted allegedly by supporters of the then chairman of the Puttalam Urban Council when they were on an inspection tour. Meanwhile, auditors are contemplating trade union action if the government does not take steps to provide security and bring the culprits to justice.

More than 1,400 audit officers island-wide will not attend work on Tuesday and Wednesday in protest against the slow pace of investigations carried out by the Kandy police. Meanwhile, a civic action group, the Programme for Protection of Public Property, has called on the government and the police to take immediate action against the perpetrators.

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