The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) of Parliament met in Parliament recently under the chairmanship of its Chairman, MP Nishantha Samaraweera, to examine the Auditor General’s reports for the years 2023 and 2024 and the current performance of the University of Peradeniya.
A statement issued by the Media Division of Parliament states that information regarding financial irregularities and several wastewater management issues at the university was revealed at this meeting.
The impact on the environment due to improper management of wastewater discharged from several hostels of the university was discussed in the meeting. It was revealed that the initial estimated cost has increased from Rs. 464 million to Rs. 1.4 billion due to the delay in collecting the wastewater from the Kandy Urban Wastewater Project.
It was also revealed that research allowances were paid to 59 non-academic and executive staff without the approval of the Research Management Committee and without obtaining the relevant research reports.
Of these, 28 officers had not submitted the relevant reports by June 30, 2023. The COPE Committee emphasized that the use of research allowances as additional salary can never be approved and pointed out that they should be used under proper procedures.