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Tsunami aid in wrong hands in Sri Lanka: Auditor General

Wide spread corruption has been detected in the distribution of foreign and local tsunami aid in Sri Lanka, the country's chief auditor said today.

Large scale misappropriation was found in the north-western, southern and eastern regions, Auditor General Sarath Mayadunne said commenting on a report in Sunday Island daily which said that he had blown the whistle on corruption.

"Yes, the figures mentioned in the newspaper report are correct," Mayadunne said adding that he will publish his Interim Tsunami Aid Audit Report this week after having presented it to members of parliament last week.

He said he could not say what percentage of the aid money had been siphoned off, but believed the numbers were large.

Inefficiencies had also slowed the flow of aid, he said noting that only 13.5 per cent of foreign aid had been utilised by the Sri Lankan authorities.

"There has been wide spread misappropriation of funds. Initially, it was understandable because proper system and controls were not in place, but even after the emergency phase was over, the irregularities continued," Mayadunne said. PTI

Facilitator role: Norway no change

The government has written to the Norwegian Labour Party Leader Jens Stoltenberg whose Center-Left bloc emerged winners at the Norwegian Parliamentary Elections, requesting the continuance of the role of his government in the peace process.

Stoltenberg who would replace the out-going Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, has responded that the Norwegian engagement in the peace process would remain unchanged.

An economist, Stoltenberg's Centre-Left bloc won 88 seats against 81 seats of Bondevik's Conservative coalition.

Earlier, Erik Solheim, the peace envoy, who is also a member of the winning coalition told the press that Norwegians would continue to facilitate the peace process.

Norwegian Embassy spokeswoman Kjersti Tromsdal echoed the same remarks when asked whether there would be any changes of the Norwegian's role in the peace process.

"No changes on our part, role will be the same," she said.

Diplomatic sources, however said it would take time till mid-October for the Norwegians to finalise a government, which is expected to be a three party coalition of the Labour Party, Socialist Left and Centrist Party.

Till then Sri Lanka has to wait for the announcement of any reshuffle of the Norwegian peace delegation.

"The last message we got from the Norwegians is that they would announce their peace team in mid-October, once their Cabinet is named," a senior peace secretariat official told the Sunday Observer.

Meanwhile, former Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Chief, Gen. Trond Furuhovde will arrive in the island in the second week of next month to consult the Government and the LTTE on the ceasefire review.

"He will consult the Government and the LTTE separately about the proper implementation of the ceasefire agreement," Tromsdal said.

Gen. Furuhovde's visit comes in the wake of the failure of the Government and the LTTE to agree on a venue for ceasefire talks.

The peace secretariat official said that the Government has identified pluses and minuses of the ceasefire agreement and would give its input for the consideration of Gen. Furuhovde.

Earlier, Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission chief Hagrup Haukland told the Sunday Observer that the SLMM would also forward its recommendations on the review of the ceasefire agreement to the Government and the LTTE.