TU claim of Rs. 466 mn loss is false, says GM
The Railways General Manager yesterday denied allegations made by the Railways Joint Trade Union Alliance (RJTUA) on March 22, claiming that the Department had incurred a loss of Rs. 466 million after the setting up of super Luxury Railway Compartments by Expo Rail, Rajadhani Luxury Express and Viceroy Special train services and that proper recovery had not been made.
While sending a statement the General Manager of Railways (GMR) B.A.P. Ariyarathna said if such a loss had occurred, the Railways Department would have already taken steps to get instructions from the Auditor General, to recover the dues.
He said that the luxury services had been launched after a long drawn out negotiations with the respective companies, he said.
“Then we decided to repair dilapidated steam engine put into service,” he said.
“If these engines were not used for the service, as speculated by parties, these carriages and engines would have decayed. There wouldn’t have been any profit or any sort of income to the Government or the Department,” Ariyarathna said.
He said in the statement that the fares for these services were taken through a committee appointed by the Secretary to Ministry.
Action has already been taken to recover any arrears from these companies. Therefore, there was no arrears to be recovered, he said in the statement.
“The RJTUA demand that the Department of Railways should recover is only partially true. The department has taken steps to recover the dues.
“This has happened as previous administration has not taken any steps to recover the payment for five years from 2009, according to consumer price list of Colombo,” he said.
“But a report and the bills have been submitted to J. F. Tours Company about the arrears of payments to be paid, following a re-audit. The proposed settlements suggested by the Trade Unions are not simple and action cannot be taken instantly
The company has informed that they could not pay the amount at once and the Department of Railways is taking steps to recover this money as soon as possible,” it said.
“The proposed settlements suggested by the Trade Unions are not simple and action cannot be taken instantly.
“The Trade Unions have attempted to communicate the message that the proper approval has not been taken from the Secretary of the Ministry, Attorney General and the Cabinet of Ministers for this five year agreement.
“For this charge, The Department of Railways has reported the details and Auditor General has already made the investigation. These monetary details are not tallying.
“It is the full responsibility of the Administration and the General Manager of Railways to give the maximum service to the general public efficiently and to correct inefficiency. It is not necessary to say that there are some strategies and systems to be implemented and sometimes radical measure need to be taken.
“It will be a great help to reach the expected targets of the department, if responsible officers, heads of sub-departments, and the workers to be transferred to various sections of the department. It has showed that the steps taken by the Railway Authorities to increase the efficiency is correct.
“It is a normal thing that some people, who are reluctant to go ahead and try, criticise and level charges if changes are fast enough,” he said in the statement.