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The Institute for Ethics and Economic Policy (IEEP) at Fordham
University. |
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TODDLERS
QUESTIONED IN BRIBERY. In
order to nab government officials for issuing forged documents for school
admissions, detectives have questioned 6-year old children. They wanted
to question children, rather than their parents, because they usually don't
lie at that age. (Japan Economic Newswire, July 2, 2001, summary by
Barbara Gray). ELECTRICITY BOARD CHAIRMAN CHARGED WITH CORRUPTION Ananda Senevirtatne, General Manager of the state-run Ceylon Electricity Board, has been placed on compulsory leave following probes of misappropriation of funds and mismanagement. Several top officials of the Board, including Chairman Arjun Deraniyagala, have also been blamed for failing to implement policies to avert the power crisis currently gripping the island. (DJ Newswires, June 12, 2001, summary by Marg Reynolds). FORMER INVESTMENT CHIEF FACING BRIBERY CHARGES The Bribery and Corruption Commission has charged Thilan Wijesinghe, former General Director of the Board of Investment, with demanding a $1 million bribe to approve a flour mill project. Kalinga Indatissa, attorney, stated bail had been posted and Wijesinghe may not leave the country without permission. He quit his job in March to allow an unhindered investigation. (WSJ, May 12, 2001, summary by Marg Reynolds). TOP INVESTMENT OFFICIAL RESIGNS OVER BRIBERY President Chandrika Kumaratunga, requested Thilan Wijesinghe, Chairman of the Board of Investment, resign after court proceedings has been filed against him in which he was accused of demanding a $1 million (U.S.) bribe plus 2 million rupees ($23,530 U.S.). The bribe was to enable a flour mill to be set up in the city of Galle by a foreign investor and the Commission to Investigate Bribery and Corruption has been investigating the investor’s complaint for a year. (People’s Daily, Mar. 27, 2001, summary by Marg Reynolds). Colombo:
TOP GOVT OFFICIAL QUITS AMID BRIBERY SCANDAL.
Thilan Wijesinghe chief of board of investment (BOI). Independent commission to investigate
bribery and corruption charged that he demanded $1 Million and taken $50,000
in cash as bribe from a foreign investor who wanted to set up a floor mill in
Galle city. (India in NY, March 30, 2001, p. 12). ATTORNEY
GENERAL PROBES ALLEGED CEYLON ELECTRICITY BOARD CORRUPTION President Chandrika Kumaratunga has
leveled allegations of corruption against the state-run Ceylon Electricity
Board for failing to implement policies to avert the present power
crisis. Arjun Deraniyagala, current
CEB Chairman, stated the 25% rate hike was due to increased reliance on
expensive thermal plants and generators together with higher global oil
prices. President Kumaratunga
recently sacked one chairman and has noted several top officials cannot
affords palatial mansions on their present salaries, and the CEB reeks of
corruption. (Yahoo News, DJ, Feb. 22, 2001, summary by Marg Reynolds). Colombo, SRI LANKA PROBES GRAFT, GANGSTER LINKS AT
TELECOM. Police in Sri Lanka are investigating top former
executives at Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd (SLT) over
alleged fraud. According to a government statement, "the anti-corruption
drive launched by the police investigative team...has unearthed
several malpractices and corruption done by certain identified SLT
employees
with the connivance of contractors." The statement gave only one
instance
of fraud involving a 6.4 million rupee forged tender but it made no
mention
of executives of Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp which
has
a 35.2 percent stake in SLT. Meanwhile, the human resources chief of
SLT,
Mr. Sriyantha Fernando, who ordered disciplinary action against telecom
employees
over the fraud, narrowly escaped a grenade attack near his home and
survived a second attempt on his life with gunshot injuries. (Source:
Reuters,
February 20, 2001, summary by Pavlidis George). The Index of Economic Freedom (by Driscoll-Holmes-Kirkpatrick) for 2001 places Sri Lanka in the “Mostly Free” category with a rank of 53 (Ranks range from 1 for Hong Kong to 155 for North Korea, Wall Street Journal, Nov. 1, 2000). H. D. Vinod’s trimmed correlation analysis indicates that countries free from economic regulation are less corrupt. After allowing for some exceptions by 20% trimming, the correlation is near 0.9. Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga said that the Bribery Commission set up three years ago is too slow and provided two confidential fax numbers where citizen can directly report corrupt activities (AOL News (Reuters), August 5, 1999). |
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Design:
Theo den Brinker |
Copyright:
Hrishikesh D. Vinod 2000 |
Last
Updated: |
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