State enterprises’ revenue should be received by Treasury – COPE Chairman
COPE Chairman Prof. Charitha Herath said that the annual revenue earned by state institutions should be properly received by the State Treasury.
The COPE Committee noted that while the State Timber Corporation had earned an operating profit of Rs. 1.4 billion (1,496,155,864) for the year 2021, only Rs. 100 million had been transferred to the State Treasury. The COPE Chairman stated that state institutions should be prepared to send a significant portion of their earnings to the State Treasury.
The Chairman made these remarks when the State Timber Corporation was summoned before the COPE recently (22) to examine the Auditor General’s Reports for 2019 and 2020 and to evaluate their performance.
The COPE Committee noted that the Forest Department had granted approval to the State Timber Corporation on June 30, 2020 for the removal of 28958 pine trees from the Hein ford Estate in Weligampola, Kandy but the trees had not yet been removed. Member of the Committee Hon. Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Member of Parliament stated that the State Timber Corporation could earn a huge profit if it could efficiently remove and export the timber recommended by the Forest Department for felling.