TISL has invited the two writers who contributed biased and one-sided stories to Ceylon Today newspaper to respect evidence based strategic interventions to promote good governance and eradicate corruption from the country.
Further TISL invites anyone wishing to know about TISL to visit its office and collect information on what TISL do and enlighten themselves rather than ignoring basic media ethics and write biased one-sided articles.
TISL made these remarks in reference to two articles published recently in Ceylon Today relating to NGOs in Sri Lanka. TISL has send a official letter to the editor and the CEO of the Ceylon Today newspaper.
Following is the full text of the letter.
Reference is invited to two articles published in Ceylon Today on (27th July 2014 and 30th July 2014) relating to NGOs in Sri Lanka of which reference had been made to Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL).
It is evident that both articles are biased and one-sided and written with malicious intent, possibly to please a few individuals. Unfortunately there was no verification of facts from the TISL.
The first article calls for “the need to investigate ownership of the property, business interest and stakes” and wrongly interpreted TISL as human rights defenders. Our mission is clearly defined on our website. The other calls for an investigation on NGOs while joyfully holding the post as spokesperson of another NGO. The writer has criticized falsely TISL as a threat to the sovereignty of the country with no clue on what we have been doing with funds received from donors.
TISL is a National Chapter of Transparency International (TI), the leading global movement against corruption. TISL raises awareness of the damaging effects of corruption and works with partners in government, business and civil society to develop and implement effective measures to tackle it. TISL as a movement has faced false accusations by various groups, particularly by groups with vested interest, that were not interested in establishing Rule of Law that protect good governance.
TISL’s goal is to support the collective effort to eradicate corruption in order to build a future Sri Lanka which is equitable, peaceful and just.
Both writers were not aware of the above and the figures they have mentioned on the funds we receive too are inaccurate. One has stated that TISL received Rs.174 million. As a transparent organisation which upholds integrity at the highest level we wish to emphasise that we have received funds more than what has been indicated and we have published all the information relating to donor funding in our annual reports with audited accounts which appear on our website. Anyone interested in knowing details about our funds or our activities can visit our office with a prior appointment. The writer has failed to analyse the figures for some unknown reasons; had the writers analyzed, they would have realized that those amounts were received during a 10 long years period for more than 70 projects by an organization had a fairly large professional staff.
Over the years TISL has focused on National and Local Governance in promoting integrity by using creative means. Almost all the funds we received were spent on developing anti-corruption structures and processes in selected national and local government institutions. We work closely with government agencies in order to build their capacity for efficient and effective delivery of public services. Workshops are arranged to equip officials of provincial and local government offices and community based organizations to impart knowledge and skills on them to contribute to a more accountable and responsive public service. Our interventions have been greatly appreciated, particularly by local authority elected members irrespective of party politics. Anyone could contacts chairmen of the urban council of Ambalangoda and chairmen of the Pradeshiya Sabhas of Yakkalamulla, Bope-Poddala and Ambalangoda or government agents of Galle and Vavunia and including Police from time to time.
So far we have trained more than 8000 government officials and improved efficiency in many Local Government Authorities, District and Divisional Secretariats and National level departments including the Department of Immigration and Emigration and Bribery Commission. Last year alone through the Shelter for Integrity, the legal aid arm of TISL we trained 1276 government officials including police and grama niladharis. In the Galle district, during the last few months we trained more than 500 officials and worked closely with the public to improve the governance of the local government authorities.
Since media plays vital role in fighting corruption workshops are conducted to develop skills of journalists on investigative journalism. These help journalists, particularly in the outstations, to highlight corrupt activities and wasteful expenditure by numerous public institutions.
We were instrumental in building a Coalition against Corruption which consists of more than 60 leading trade unions and civil organaisations. The Coalition has so far revealed frauds costing more than Rs. 6000 million which have been given wide coverage in the print and electronic media. But authorities have so far failed to tackle this menace resulting in Sri Lanka further sliding down in the Global Corruption Perception Index. It is a pity that the writers have failed to highlight these factors in their articles or possibly, they have deliberately avoided the positive aspects and preferred to make them one-sided.
As a responsible civil society entity which fights corruption and promotes principles of democracy TISL would like to request the writers to respect evidence based strategic interventions to promote good governance and eradicate corruption from the country. We invite the two writers or anyone wishing to know about TISL to visit our office and collect information on what we do and enlighten themselves rather than ignoring basic media ethics and write biased one-sided articles.