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When corruption flows through fuel pumps
Monday, 6 August 2012 - 11:48 AM SL Time
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One cannot think of a better logo for the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) than the one it already has. The man in the buff running with a torch, in our book, represents the corrupt pandam karayas (`torch bearers` local slang for the ruling party stooges) getting away with their fuel rackets.
When it was reported a few days ago that the CPC had once again imported a consignment of low quality diesel, which was causing vehicles to stall, the kneejerk reaction of the government was to go into the denial mode. But, as irrefutable evidence began to emerge that diesel was contaminated, the CPC, true to form, tried to muddy the water. Petroleum Minister Susil Premjayantha sought to downplay the issue, but in vain.
The truth like oil, they say, always comes to the surface! Now that the situation has got out of hand with more and more vehicles including SLTB buses and SLR locomotives developing engine trouble, the CPC worthies are making a fresh attempt to obfuscate the main issue. Former CPC Chairman Harry Jayawardena has been blamed for contracting a foreign company once blacklisted for selling substandard oil to supply the consignment of diesel at issue. Jayawardena has vehemently denied the allegation, claiming that he acted within the confines of law.
Now, the Singaporean seller of the so-called off-specification diesel has denied responsibility for fuel contamination. The principle of natural justice demands that the foreign supplier be heard though we cannot expect it to tell us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The question is why the CPC which claims to test all imported fuel at its laboratories allowed the poor quality diesel to be taken delivery of and released to the market. A few moons ago, we were told that a consignment of aviation fuel had been rejected as the CPC labs detected excess water in it.
Everything is rotten about the CPC, of which the first `C`, in our view, stands for `corruption`. A fish is said to rot from the head. When the CPC itself imports and distributes substandard fuel trotting out lame excuses and defending politicians and bureaucrats responsible for such rackets it is not surprising that corrupt filling station owners cheat the public with impunity. There have been many complaints that they mix kerosene with diesel and petrol and tamper with fuel pumps. How could people seek justice when the CPC itself is corrupt and rotten to the core?
One may wonder whether the government is working according to a secret plan to create conditions for the privatisation of the CPC by releasing substandard fuel into the market in a bid to provoke the people to call for the divestiture of that problematic venture. One may not be able to think of any other reason why the government has failed/refused to act against those responsible for fuel rackets in spite of the availability of damning evidence against them. Corruption is not a recent phenomenon, one may argue. True, there have been serious allegations of malpractice against the CPC and other State ventures for a long time, but in the past the incidence of corruption had the same pace as test cricket, so to speak. But, today what we witness is `T-20 corruption` with the CPC nabobs going hell for leather to line their pockets as if there were no tomorrow!
The CPC racketeers responsible for mega scams like the hedging deal and low quality fuel imports would not have been able to get away with their crimes unless they had been in cahoots with the powers that be. The only way the highest echelons of government could prove that they neither condone nor benefit from what is going on at the CPC is to have the fuel rackets probed thoroughly and the culprits dealt with appropriately. Nothing else will help them clear their names.
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