The whole process actually explains the sorry state of lack of governance that is rampant in the administration. In fact such a case of bad governance can be traced to this root cause of financial indiscipline. It also tells us about the lack of interest in establishing good governance by the successive governments. Because if the cases remain unresolved for nearly twenty years, it means all the governments over the years failed to live upto their responsibilities. And by doing so, the real purpose of establishing good governance has been defeated. No wonder, with such absence of transparency and attempts to sweep things under the carpet, corruption has become rampant in the administration. In fact, corruption was allowed to raise its ugly head to a higher level than we ever thought of.

Though obeying recommendations by the Public Accounts Committee is not mandatory, yet we earnestly hope that the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General would pay heed to their suggestion of either resolving the cases in six months or suggesting ways to take actions against those responsible. This is a hurdle they have to cross very carefully. Since the cases of objections remain in the cold storage, those involved with the irregularities would, in the meantime, either change their jobs or retire.

Even at times, proofs of the irregularities are also known to be eliminated, turning the whole exercise into a mission impossible. We urge the government to take the matter more seriously than it has and immediately draw out a strategy to strictly deal with such irregularities that involve huge amounts of public money.