Hoarded relief goods brought to light after audit officers force open locked storerooms at Udapalatha DS

Internal audit officers, on Thursday, forced open three locked storerooms at the Udapalatha Divisional Secretariat, in Gampola, and discovered large quantities of expired food items and other relief goods allegedly withheld from being distributed to victims of the ‘Ditwah’ disaster for more than seven months. The operation followed complaints that dry rations, clothing, kitchen utensils, electrical appliances and other items, donated by the Government, foreign donors and philanthropists for disaster-affected families, had been stockpiled without being distributed, resulting in the shelf life of food items expiring and going to waste. The inspection, carried out jointly by the Internal Audit Division of the Kandy District Secretariat, the Auditor General’s Department and the Internal Audit Unit of the Ministry of Public Administration, revealed stocks of rice, dhal, canned fish, cheese and other food items, many of which had expired and were infested with weevils. Audit officers said the goods, estimated to be worth more than Rs. 10 million, were not included in inventory records. Officials said the Divisional Secretary, Atma Dilrukshi Jayaratne, had prevented audit officers from entering the storerooms from Thursday morning until after 4.00 p.m. and had earlier maintained that the locked rooms contained only broken furniture and old books. After obtaining instructions from higher authorities, and in the presence of police officers, auditors broke open one of the sealed storerooms, where they discovered the expired food stocks. The remaining two storerooms were subsequently opened, revealing additional relief goods stored inside. The investigation stems from complaints received by the Kandy District Secretariat and the Auditor General alleging that relief supplies intended for victims of the ‘Ditwah’ cyclone had not been distributed and that some officers had misappropriated relief assistance. The dispute has also led to complaints being lodged with the Gampola Police by both the Divisional Secretary and Kandy Additional District Secretary Atampawala. The Additional District Secretary alleged that the Divisional Secretary had obstructed him from carrying out his official duties during an inspection on Wednesday. According to audit officials, tensions escalated when preparations were made to force open the third storeroom, with the Divisional Secretary arriving at the scene and demanding that she be arrested. Responding to the allegations, Jayaratne denied attempting to conceal relief supplies. She said the audit officers had sealed the storerooms and removed the keys without properly informing her. She maintained that one room contained broken office furniture and old books, another held cleaning equipment intended for families awaiting resettlement, while a third contained sanitary products and children’s items belonging to the Women and Child Affairs Section. Beds, life jackets and other relief items stored outside her office had been recorded as fixed assets, she said. Jayaratne stated that the expiry of certain food items was beyond the control of the Divisional Secretariat, claiming that some donated goods had already been close to or past their expiry dates when received from donors. Kandy District Secretary Indika Udawatta said disciplinary action would be considered once the audit reports were submitted to the Ministry of Public Administration. “We had already issued guidelines to all officers in the district on the proper distribution of relief assistance. It is regrettable that such allegations have arisen despite those instructions,” he said. The ‘Ditwah’ cyclone caused extensive flooding and landslides across 56 Grama Niladhari divisions in the Udapalatha Divisional Secretariat area, affecting thousands of families after inundating homes, businesses, schools and places of worship. By SK Samaranayake and Suranga Dilhan