The government has spent Rs. 5,000 million to import diesel generators. The Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy has once again shamefully misled the Cabinet and the President into purchasing a unit for 40 rupees.
Speaking at a press conference held in Colombo today, the Anti-Corruption Front Advisor Keerthi Tennakoon stated that on December 29, 2016, the Daily News had published an advertisement to buy 60 MW additional power for 6 months. At the time this advertisement was published, at least the initial approval for such a purchase had not been received, he pointed out.
On the following day, a cabinet paper prepared by the Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy Dr. Suren Batagoda comes to the Cabinet in the name of Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya. The cabinet proposes to buy 60 MW of thermal power generation as it can be blocked.
Accordingly, Minister Siyambalapitiya-Batagoda and his secretary are requesting in his cabinet to declare that there is an urgent need to buy electricity and electricity to be selected through open international competitive bidding.
However, the anti-corruption front pointed out that a group including Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and Minister Champika Ranawaka objected to the Cabinet paper and the Finance Ministry protested that the declaration of an Emergency would adversely affect investment confidence. .
Keerthi Tennakoon emphasized that GS Vithanage, Dr. Suren Batagoda and the General Manager of the Electricity Board, who once again planned the coal scam, will hold a technical evaluation committee.
Keerthi Tennakoon further explained the process and revealed the following.
Meeting will be held on 28-12-2016. The committee has approved the technical criteria for the advertisement of newspapers according to the documents.
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Presentation of the Cabinet Paper No. 16/2774/727/056 on 30.12.2016. (Normally a Cabinet paper should be delivered to the Cabinet Office seven days in advance)
The Technical Evaluation Committee evaluates the bid which ends on 16.01.2017 and evaluates the bids submitted by Agrico, Lakdanavi, Power Solutions NV, The Consortium of Ceylex (Pvt) and Aifaris (LLC).
The Technical Evaluation Committee decides that the relevant purchase value is Rs. 6,268 million.
Cabinet approval
Cabinet approves the Cabinet Paper on January 10, 2017. However, the newspaper advertisements have already been published for the purchase of diesel generators on December 29, 2016.
The tender will be accepted until 16:00 am on January 16, 2017 and the evaluation will be held on the same day. The procurement board (along with the majority of the members of the notorious Coal Deal Team) will select the bidder.
January 18, 2017 The Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy informs the Electricity Board that before the 6th of February, Agrico International will be instructed to start generating electricity.
Secretary to the Ministry of Health Dr. Suren Batagoda has obtained the Cabinet approval on the fraudulent and illegal transaction which has already been completed.
A minimum of 42 days is required for international competitive tenders. However, at least 14 days have been given for the cabinet to make the purchase offer or to publish it in a newspaper advertisement. The Ministry of Power and Energy has obtained the approval of the international competitive bidding process without any Cabinet approval.
The Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy has lost the country by the coal tender scam (according to the Auditor General, Rs. 4135 million). It is the Siyambalapitiya-Batagoda ministerial-secretary coalition that is losing nearly Rs.
The Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Front Venerable Ulapane Sumangala Thera and Nishantha Warnasinghe also spoke.
Media unit
Anti-Corruption Front
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
– Unknown
