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Sri Lanka’s government wants to control humanitarian aid
by Melani Manel Perera
Defence Ministry accuses NGOs of lack of transparency, claiming that more than half of all aid goes into paying organisational costs.
Colombo (AsiaNews) – The Sri Lankan government has decided that all foreign aid should go through its own channels. Defence Ministry spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said that “aid or grants coming from other foreign countries should not directly go to the INGOs or NGOs” but “should be channelled through the government’s management and the administration.”
Pointing the finger at NGOs for their lack of transparency, he insisted that the government “should know how” aid from the international community “is spent”.
He added that more than half of the money goes in wages and perks for NGO staff and 70 cents of each dollar flows back to donor countries.
Whilst inviting humanitarian organisations present in the country “to take part in this process,” he insisted that the Sri Lankan government is will not “run aid for Tamil civilians through a third party.”