The Sri Lanka Cricket Institute was summoned before the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) which met yesterday (Nov. 14) Chaired by Hon. (Prof.) Ranjith Bandara, Member of Parliament.
Matters including the special audit report related to the 2022 International Cricket Council T-20 World Cup (Men) cricket tournament were investigated at the Committee meeting held. A group of officials including Mr. Kanapathipillai Mahesan, the Secretary to the Ministry of Sports, Mr. Shammi Silva, the President of the Sri Lanka Cricket, Mr. Ashley De Silva, the Chief Executive Officer, were present at the Committee meeting held.
At the beginning of the Committee, the Auditor General explained how the Auditor General has got the power to audit Sri Lanka Cricket based on the legal provisions including Article 154 of the Constitution.
Although the secretary said that the necessary guidance and orders have been given to the sports clubs including Sri Lanka Cricket, the Committee emphasized that the intervention of the Ministry should be increased.
According to the legal provisions, the executive committee should get the minister's approval. However, subject to the Minister's cover approval, the secretary has given approval on 07.10.2022, to which the minister's approval was not given. Accordingly, it was decided to bring the former secretary in the future and look into the related files.
The fact that nearly 8 million rupees which was accounted to be paid for the members of the executive committee for the Australian trip were removed from the accounts during the audit and the related bills were not submitted to the audit was also taken into discussion. Accordingly, COPE emphasized that proper methods should be prepared to carry out the functions of Sri Lanka cricket.
According to a 2016 gazette paper, it was also discussed that by removing the powers of the Auditor General's Department in 2020, sports associations will be empowered to act as they wish. Due to this situation, it was discussed that sports associations have been empowered to spend money as they wish and therefore the legal situation in 2016 should be reviewed.
concerns such as the issuing of visa letters for Australian travel, audit inquiries related to the purchase of air tickets, and the need to use an open method with transparency in selecting media organizations for foreign travel were also addressed.
Thus, the Committee ordered the Secretary to the Ministry to develop the proper procedure for Sri Lanka cricket and the need to strengthen the internal audit of the cricket institution was also emphasized by the Committee.
It was also decided to continue the investigation regarding Sri Lanka Cricket Board for three days and inform the dates in the future.
State Ministers Hon. Jagath Pushpakumara, Hon. Janaka Wakkumbura, Hon. Shantha Bandara, Members of Parliament Hon. Anura Dissanayaka, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Hon. Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Hon. Rohitha Abeygunawardana, Hon. Eran Wickramaratne, Hon. Nimal Lanza, Hon. S. M. Marikkar, Hon. Hesha Withanage, Hon. Sanjeeva Edirimanna, Hon. Jagath Kumara Sumithraarachchi, Hon. (Major) Sudarshana Denipitiya, Hon. Premnath C. Dolawatte, Hon. Upul Mahendra Rajapaksha, Hon. M. Rameshwaran, Hon. (Mrs.) Rajika Wickramasinghe, Hon. Madhura Withanage, Hon. (Prof.) Charitha Herath, were present at the Committee meeting held.
2026-06-19
The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Environment focused its attention on the issue of water pollution in the Kelani River when it met in Parliament recently (10th June) under the chairmanship of the Hon. Minister of Environment, Dr. Dammika Patabendi.During the meeting, the Committee was briefed on the progress of discussions being held with companies that have expressed willingness to invest in a project aimed at cleaning the waters of the Kelani River.The Committee also discussed a number of proposals and other issues raised by Hon. Members of Parliament.The meeting was attended by Hon. Members of Parliament and officials.
2026-06-18
A meeting of the Women Parliamentarians Caucus was held in Parliament recently to discuss the importance of incorporating Gender-Responsive Budgeting into Sri Lanka’s national budget formulation process and to examine the challenges associated with its implementation.The meeting was chaired by the Chairperson of the Caucus and Hon. Minister of Women and Child Affairs, Saroja Savithri Paulraj. Hon. Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya also participated in the discussion.A key concern raised during the discussion was the lack of adequate data and indicators to accurately assess and measure women’s economic contributions within the budgetary process. Drawing on examples of approaches adopted in India and other countries, members of the Caucus underscored the need to identify and address existing systemic and technical gaps in Sri Lanka’s budgeting framework.The Caucus also emphasized the importance of disaggregating data by gender in project reporting and strengthening digital data management systems to support such efforts. It was further noted that identifying relevant gender-related considerations at the initial stages of project design and implementation at the ministerial level would facilitate more effective project analysis, monitoring, and evaluation of outcomes.The need to move away from existing traditional and time-consuming methods towards formal online systems and data-driven analytical tools was also emphasized.The current progress and challenges in integrating Gender-Responsive Budgeting into Sri Lanka’s public financial policy were discussed in detail during the meeting.It was also emphasized that such budgeting should not be limited to nominal percentages in documents, but that the need to establish a formal framework and data system to ensure it has a real and practical impact was also highlighted.The Hon.Deputy Chairperson of Committees Hemalee Weerasekera, Hon. Deputy Minister Dr. Kaushalya Ariyarathne, Co-Vice Chairpersons of the Caucus, Hon. Members of Parliament Chamindrani Kiriella, Attorney at Law and Samanmalee Gunasinghe, Hon. Members of Parliament Thushari Jayasinghe, Attorney at Law, Krishnan Kaleichelvi, Sagarika Athauda ,Attorney at Law, Nilanthi Kottahachchi, Attorney at Law, Ambika Samivel and Lakmali Hemachandra, Attorney at Law, along with a group of officials from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, also participated in the event.
2026-06-17
The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government met recently (Jun. 12) at Parliament under the chairmanship of the Hon. Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government, Prof. A.H.M.H. Abayarathna.During the meeting, Members of Parliament discussed a range of issues and proposals relating to their respective electorates, as well as several other matters of public importance.Hon. Members of Parliament and officials were present at the meeting.
2026-06-17
The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs met recently (Jun. 09) at Parliament under the chairmanship of the Hon. Minister of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, Dr. Hiniduma Sunil Senevi.During the meeting, Members of Parliament discussed a number of proposals and issues, including reviewing the progress of discussions initiated with the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education and the Department of Examinations regarding the formulation of regulations to prevent the conduct of private tuition classes on Sunday mornings, thereby facilitating the holding of Dhamma School classes on Sundays.The meeting was attended by Hon. Deputy Ministers, Hon. Members of Parliament and officials.
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