“We all know that Corruption is bad. It is a crime. Many a time it is an organized crime. Corruption is an enemy of the poor. It retards the nation’s progress. It ruins the value system of our society. Public resources meant for the benefits of our people are used by some people in authority for their personal gains. This is happening all over the world. But the scale may be different from country to country,” stated TISL Executive Director, S Ranugge in his welcome address at the NIA presentation ceremony.
Below is the full text of the speech:
It is indeed my pleasure and privilege to welcome you all to this important event of the 9th National Integrity Award. As you may be aware this award ceremony coincides with the United Nations Anti-Corruption Day which falls on 9th December. This year, 9th December is a Sunday and therefore TISL has decided to advance this event to a working day with a view to making it more convenient to our distinguish invitees to participate. The Anti-Corruption Day is a strong symbol of the global commitment to fight corruption. Sri Lanka too has joined this worldwide campaign by ratifying the UN Convention against Corruption on 31 March 2004.
We all know that Corruption is bad. It is a crime. Many a time it is an organized crime. Corruption is an enemy of the poor. It retards the nation’s progress. It ruins the value system of our society. Public resources meant for the benefits of our people are used by some people in authority for their personal gains. This is happening all over the world. But the scale may be different from country to country. Transparency International has developed a measurement to assess the situation of corruption of the countries of the world. This is called Corruption Perception Index or CPI. With this index we can understand where we are. The index for this year was launched yesterday and we are placed at 79 out of 178 counties. This year assessment has been done on a scale from 0 to 100, zero means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean. According to this scale Sri Lanka is at 40 and we don’t see much improvement over the past few years. In the South Asian context we are second to Bhutan. But we cannot be satisfied since we are still below 50 on this scale.
Despite our fight against corruption Sri Lanka is increasingly facing a series of governance issues. Some are more visible than others. We have witnessed the crisis in the stock market a few months ago. The entire education sector was shaken with the Z Score issue and the prolong strike of the university teachers for more resource allocation for education. Inmates of the prison are not secured inside. 27 of them were killed recently. Procurement of goods and services in the public sector is shady and the health minister himself is openly talking about corruption in his Ministry. The latest in the series is the hurly burly between the judiciary and the legislature. The complainants have become the judges of the case against the Chief Justice. In all accepted norms, the Chief Justice has been denied of justice.
However, there are some courageous people and organizations who stand tall with unblemished integrity in this corrupt environment. They are just like lotus in the swamp. Today we have assembled here to recognize two of such people and one organization. They have been selected by an independent panel of judges following a vigorous process. I welcome and congratulate you.
Now, on behalf of TISL and on my own behalf, I am pleased to welcome our chief guest, Deshamanya Mr Bradman Weerakoon and the guest of honor Mr Arittha Wickremanayake. Mr Weerakoon needs no introduction as he is known to many, especially people of our age. However, it is my duty to say a few words about Mr Weerakoon for the benefit of our young people. Mr Weerakoon is a distinguished public servant with unquestionable integrity. He joined the then Ceylon Civil Service in 1954 and after a brief stint in the field he was appointed Assistant Secretary to the Prime Minister. He was Secretary to nine Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka, Advisor to the pPesident, Government Agent and Commissioner-General of Essential Services. Moreover, he was a mentor and role model to many of us in the Sri Lanka Administrative Service.
I warmly welcome Mr Arittha Wickremanayake, our guest of honor. Mr Wickremanayake is an Attorney-at-Law specializing in Corporate Law, Securities Law and Trade Law. He was one of the founder trustees and the first Chairman of Transparency International Sri Lanka. Mr Wicremanayake has held several positions in the public service. He was a State Counsel, Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka, a member of PERC, and the Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Board and now he is the Precedent partner of Nithya Partners.
I am happy to welcome our distinguished invitees who have taken time off to be with us this evening at this important event. Your presence here is a source of encouragement for all us at TISL to move ahead in our challenging task of fighting corruption. I am also glad to welcome the winners of the award and their friends and family members who are present here.
Last but not least, I would like to welcome our media friends. I recognize your presence not only because you have come here to cover this event, but many of you have been brave enough to expose corruption in the public sector taking the personal risk and threat to life. You are doing a wonderful job for the benefit of our country at a time people do not have Right to Information.
Thank you.