PARLIAMENT

• The officials who came to answer the audit quires are not prepared
• It is clear that there is no national plan for sports and there is no follow-up on spending of government funds
• Officials fail to give a correct answer about the number of games in the Olympics.
• Recommends to summon these two institutions to COPA Committee again on October 20

The Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) expressed its strong displeasure due to the fact that the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs and the Department of Sports Development came before the committee without preparation.

This displeasure was expressed when the COPA chaired by the State Minister of State Hon. Lasantha Alagiyawanna met yesterday (Sep. 7) in Parliament to discuss the reports of the Auditor General for the years 2020 and 2021 and the current performance of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs and the Department of Sports Development

When the officers who summoned were asked about the matters mentioned in the Auditor General's report, they failed to answer them. The Committee pointed out that these institutions were summoned to inquire about the sports in the country and the officials did not have any preparation for that. Because of this, the COPA decided to summon these two institutions again on October 20, 2023. The Committee mentioned that such an incident has not happened in the recent past of the COPA.

According to the answers given by these officials, it was clear that there was no national plan regarding sports and no follow-up has been done regarding the spending of government funds. Also, the committee asked the officials about the number of games in the Olympics and the officials failed to give a correct answer. Thus, the committee expressed its regret in this regard as well.

Also, the committee asked about the games in the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and South Asian Games and the position of Sri Lanka in these tournaments and the games played and the officials present could not give a clear answer on this.

Also, the committee inquired about the number of sports currently in Sri Lanka and the officials present said that there are 4 registered A-grade sports, 12 B-grade sports and 73 C-grade sports. The committee asked how many sports have established national records in this country and the officials present said that they cannot give a definite answer in this regard. The committee also inquired about the sports being run in Sri Lanka and the records set of those sports in the last 5 years and the officials failed to give a specific answer for that too.

The committee inquired about the criteria followed in the transition of Sri Lanka's national sport from Elle to volleyball, and no clear answer was received from the officials in this regard.

Also, according to the reports of the Auditor General, the committee inquired about the non-effective completion of the projects that had been spent about 1500 million and since no satisfactory answer was received in this regard, the committee recommended to submit a report on this within a month.

Due to the lack of coordination between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Sports, it was revealed that there is no clear plan to bring the players from school level to the national level.

Also, the  Committee was displeased with the lack of follow-up on the establishment of district sports committees despite the fact that the circular was sent to establish the respective committees. It was also discussed that the hockey ground built in Torrington was not in compliance with international standards.

 Also, it was revealed that the officers have no understanding of the tasks performed by the National Sports Council, which has been established to advise the Minister.

Finally, the committee recommended that a report be given to the committee about the international level sports tournaments and the place where Sri Lanka is represented in them. The COPA also recommended that the report should highlight the relationship between the Ministry of Sports and the Ministry of Education.

State Minister Hon. (Dr.) Suren Raghavan, Hon. Diana Gamage, Members of Parliament Hon. Tissa Attanayake, Hon. A.L.M. Ataullah and Hon.Major Pradeep Undugoda were present in this committee.