Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) has voiced serious concern about the disbursement of funds that were received for reconstruction and rehabilitation activities after the 2004 December tsunami and the lack of information about the manner in which the monies were spent.
In a statement TISL said that the lack of legitimised right to information law or any practice promoting right to information of the people was one of the key problems that marred the tsunami reconstruction process.
“When information was requested about the utilisation of the money received during the recovery process, some Government officers refrained from providing them, possibly for fear of persecution by higher authorities in their departments and ministries,” TISL said.
The organisation said that it is the prime right of the people to know the true picture of the tsunami recovery process and therefore the Government should take every possible step to assure and respect the right to information of the general public and thus an audit should be done to explain the utilisation of the money received.
“TISL reiterates the importance of collecting and documenting all the information of tsunami 2004 in relation to both the relief and recovery process. Such deliberation is important in the context of current developments in the north and east of Sri Lanka,” the statement said. |
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