RDA heads for collision on expressways
Engineers threaten all out action if privatisation proposal is approved
Road Deve l o p m e n t Authority (RDA) engineers have attacked Government plans to give management of existing and future expressways to an international company, saying this RDA division generated income and did not warrant privatisation.
The proposal— aimed at raising an advance payment that could then be used to complete three other expressways— was only revealed through a draft newspaper advertisement that came to the notice of the RDA Engineers’ Association ( RDAEA). The union has invoked the Right to Information (RTI) Act to demand copies of all documents, including Cabinet papers, for scrutiny.
Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella told the Sunday Times last week the Government was considering outsourcing expressway operation, maintenance and management to a foreign entity for around 25 years. Some international companies had already expressed interest, he said.
“RDAEA requests the management to stop this activity immediately without making the situation worst [ sic] and compelling the employees towards trade union actions,” the engineers state, in a letter to the RDA Chairman. “All the unions of the RDA will col- lectively get the cooperation of all the employees as a team for an action against this type of activities and against the Chairman and management of RDA.”
The development of the expressway network will lead to a steep increase in the number of users, RDAEA predicts. This will lead to higher income that, if the proposed privatisation takes place, will go to private parties—local or
foreign—“making it a very big damage to the country and the nation”.
Twenty- four RDA trade unions, including the UNP- allied Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya and the SLFPallied Sri Lanka Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya, have signed a petition to Highways Minister Kiriella opposing the proposal. The RDAEA has separ at e l y written to Pre s i d e n t Maithripala Sirisena requesting a meeting.
The RDAEA is also concerned about a purported move to withdraw monies from a deposit residing with t h e E x p re s sway Operat i o n , Maintenance and Management ( EOMM) Division to settle contractor bills for other works. The RDA has a deposit of five billion rupees under EOMM which is intended for use in periodic maintenance of expressways.
The monthly average income from the expressways is now around Rs 500 million, of which Rs. 120 million goes towards operation expenses and Rs 60 million towards taxes. The monthly average saving is, therefore, around Rs 320 million and the annual average saving is Rs 3.84 billion.
The RDA management intends to use around Rs 4 billion from the deposit to settle contractor bills of other divisions, the RDAEA alleges. In a letter to the Authority’s Chairman and Director General, the RDAEA denounces this as “wrong procedure”. The tenders and work orders had been issued without financial control, beyond budget allocations. It is the responsibility of top management to work within budget allocations with a proper plan and limitations, the RDAEA points out.
The union has, once again, invoked the RTI Act to obtain information about— among other things— tenders and work orders; works issued/ attended by Construction Division and EOMM Division; and any other special works including estimate amounts and tendered amounts; and money availability according to the approved programme for 2017 (including non-RDA roadworks).