The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chair, I must respond to Hon. Imran Maharoof. Funds have been allocated to build the Kurinchakerny Bridge. Many Members raised a tender issue at the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. We have referred it to the Presidential Investigation Unit. Briefly: there has been serious fraud regarding procurement of straddle carriers; the matter is before court.

¶ 02 Here’s what happened. Due to persistent irregularities, Cabinet decided to stop it. While the Cabinet paper was to stop the procurement, it was manipulated on 13 September 2024 to allow bringing them. These are large, expensive machines—full tender around USD 18 million. The Presidential Election was on 21 September 2024. The CANC (specifications committee) was bypassed; Cabinet “approved” on 18 September, ratifying what had been proposed to be stopped on the 13th. On 19 September, the SLPA Board approved the tender; on 20 September, it was awarded; the election was on the 21st. Why such haste? Therefore, we decided to re-tender the 15 straddle carriers. It takes around 10 months to deliver after award; our decision does not add unusual delay. Please verify facts before repeating claims that serve those behind the fraud. Thank you.