SLPA LOST 3.5 B AS DUE TO CONTRACT TERMINATION: SAMARASINGHE

Purchasing equipment for Port of Colombo

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) lost Rs 3.5 billion as result of the termination of a contract to purchase equipment for the Eastern Terminal of the Port of Colombo in 2015, Ports and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said yesterday. Minister Samarasinghe, who was speaking during the committee stage debate on the budget, said the contract was terminated during the 100day programme started by the government. He said he would submit a paper to the Cabinet to get permission to refurbish the Eastern Terminal.

Minister of Petroleum Resources Development Arjuna Ranatunga, who was the minister in charge of shipping in 2015, said the contract to purchase equipment for the Eastern Terminal was stopped as there was an unsolicited tender submitted. Besides this, he said

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority would have had to incur a colossal expense of US dollars 12 million if it went ahead with the purchase of the equipment in question

the Sri Lanka Ports Authority would have had to incur a colossal expense of US dollars 12 million if it went ahead with the purchase of the equipment in question. Revealing more loopholes in the purchasing process, he said the chains that were delivered to the SLPA were not suitable for use on large ships.

Minister Ranatunga also charged that a trade union member who was removed from the SLPA for engaging in fraudulent activities during his time as the subject minister had been reinstated. This, he said, is a sad state of affairs.