The Island – Editorial
It is a supreme irony that some government ministers have unwittingly come to play the role of the Opposition, which lies supine following a string of disastrous electoral defeats. UNP bigwigs are too busy stalking one another to concentrate on the government’s omissions and commissions. The DNA is all at sea making some noise from time to time about Gen. Sarath Fonseka’s detention. The TNA does not know whether it is coming or going. So, the government enjoys the freedom of the wild ass.
New ministers are revealing the sorry state of affairs at institutions under their purview. And in so doing they only expose their predecessors and the UPFA government, which has been in power since 2004 to date. The latest revelation comes from Sports Minister C. B. Ratnayake. Addressing the media yesterday in Colombo he lashed out at the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) left right and centre. The SLC, the minister said, was the third most corrupt institution in the country. The first and the second places went to the education establishment and the Police Department respectively, he said. Strangely, he did not mention the rank of politics, the wellspring of all corruption.
Minister Ratnayake’s consternation is understandable. The SLC is in the red and its corruption stinks to high heavens. The mess he has had to preside over is unholy and his task daunting. The SLC has become a haven for a coterie of political stooges lining their pockets. It has, in short, become a dirty word synonymous with corruption because of a cabal of undesirables who have been at its helm over the past so many years putting through corrupt deals with impunity.
While we appreciate Minister Ratnayake’s concern and his willingness to cleanse the SLC, we urge him to probe, if he dares, the allegations against his immediate predecessor. It has been alleged that the then Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge signed a questionable contract with Nimbus Pvt. Ltd, which had been blacklisted by SLC, without consulting either the Marketing Department or the Legal Department of SLC. The contract was signed in 2009 for $ 6 million at a time when an ODI, which India played, easily fetched $ 2 million! The SLC, it is said, should have got at least $ 11 million for five ODIs and one T-20 international played between Sri Lanka and India last year. Nimbus paid only two instalments after the series!
In 2008, Minister Lokuge made a public display of his resentment towards former SLC Chairman Jayantha Dharmadasa, who had signed a controversial contract with Ten Sports for a period that extended way beyond his tenure at rates far below those Pakistan managed to secure from the same company at that time. Pakistan was even finding it difficult to attract international cricket because of her security situation! Lokuge made a song and dance and cancelled the contract with Ten Sports at issue but signed a fresh agreement, according to which the SLC cannot sell TV rights of even a series not covered by the agreement without negotiating with Ten Sports! That is the SLC equivalent of the CPC hedging deal!
‘Family bandyism’ is not confined to politics. Many an eyebrow has been raised by the fat salaries some ‘chosen’ SLC officials draw. Two of them related to the incumbent Chairman D. S. de Silva are said to be paid as much as $ 5,000 (about Rs. 600,000) and $ 2,000 (about Rs. 225,000) a month besides attractive perks. The SLC has, thus, become Golconda for a favoured few. Not even SLC CEO and former Test Captain Duleep Mendis draws so much!
We learn Minister Ratnayake rejected out of hand an offer by the SLC of three first class air tickets cum an all-expenses-paid tour of the Caribbean during the recently concluded T-20 World Cup series. That is how the corrupt try to bribe new ministers in kind.
The best service that Minister Ratnayake could render to Sri Lanka’s cricket is to cleanse the Sri Lanka Cricket. But, it is a Herculean task not second to the cleaning of the Augean stables. We hope he will not succumb to the lure of filthy lucre unlike his predecessors who fattened themselves on SLC funds at the expense of cricket. A purge of the SLC is a prerequisite for preparing the country for the next ICC World Cup series. If that task cannot be accomplished, Sri Lanka might as well forget the World Cup!