Information about many financial irregularities and wastewater management issues at the University of Peradeniya has been revealed before the Committee on Public Enterprises.
This was revealed when the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) of Parliament met in Parliament recently under the chairmanship of its Chairman, Member of Parliament Nishantha Samaraweera, to examine the Auditor General's reports for the years 2023 and 2024 and the current performance of the University of Peradeniya.
The first discussion was held on the 5th of this month and the second round of discussions was held as follows.
The university's financial administration, wastewater management, research grant payments, corporate governance and future development plans were discussed, and many issues were revealed, according to a statement issued by the Parliament's media wing.
The impact on the environment due to improper management of wastewater discharged from several hostels of the university was discussed in the main.
It is said that due to the delay in connecting this system to the Kandy Urban Wastewater Project, the original estimated cost has increased from Rs. 464 million to Rs. 1.4 billion.
However, officials have indicated that Rs. 2 billion has been obtained through JICA to take this project forward. Another issue that was discussed the most was the payment of research grants.
It has been 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, which emphasized that the use of research allowances as additional salaries can never be approved, pointed out that they should be used under proper procedures.