If recommending UNPers for RDA jobs wrong Kiriella ready to accept his mistake RDA suffers staggering loss of Rs 62.87M
Posted on September 24th, 2019
By Mirudhula Thambiah Courtesy Ceylon Today
According to the PCoI, the Road Development Authority (RDA) faced a staggering loss of Rs 62.87 million by recruiting staff and that the appointments had also violated Management Service Circulars.
Leader of the House, Minister Lakshman Kiriella told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry yesterday (24), that if recommending UNP Members for recruitment to the RDA was wrong, he was ready to accept it.
He noted that the appointments were made at a time when there were many roads to be constructed in the Central Province.
He added, “I made recommendations to recruit certain UNP Members as Public Liaison Officers to avoid issues cropping up when constructing roads within the Central Province,” Kiriella said he made recommendations of people known to him and the RDA offered them jobs.
However, the Commissioners pointed out that the recruitment drive had caused a loss of Rs 62.87 million and that the appointments had violated Management Service Circulars.
Denying the allegation, the Minister added that if the Ministry had misappropriated such an amount, there should be an audit query and that he has made these recommendations according to RDA guidelines.
“The RDA has the authority to appoint people to complete a certain task. These were no permanent recruitments, as after completing their task they could be removed from the position,” Kiriella said.
Minister Kiriella said, during former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s regime, recruitments had been made in a similar manner and that he had followed the precedent during his term of office.