The Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe – Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development

¶ 01 Hon. Chairman, I wish to respond particularly to the last point raised by the Hon. Leader of the Opposition on vehicles. He suggested using existing State vehicles. Many such vehicles have already been auctioned; others are being auctioned now. These are not suitable for officials – many are extremely fuel-inefficient (3–4 km per litre), including high-cost V8s and BMWs that the State cannot afford to run. Even in our Ministry, yesterday’s auction fetched more than double the Government valuation in some cases. The remaining vehicles are not practical for regular official use due to fuel and maintenance burdens; hence the need to procure appropriate vehicles.

¶ 02 As for procurement, the Opposition Leader alleged violations. That is false. We are acting with Procurement Committee approval, within procedures that allow reduced timelines under specified conditions. Seven bidders have responded. If there was a violation, it could be legally challenged. Let us discuss the actual process rather than propagate untruths.

¶ 03 Regarding the point raised by Hon. Ravi Karunanayake on LECO vehicles and a Benz purchase by its Chairman: the Power Ministry Vote is up tomorrow; those specific matters can be addressed then.