28 August 2019 10:41 pm
Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) to investigate corruption of the current administration today ordered the Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminal Limited (CPSTL) and Senok, the second-lowest bidder to produce one oil bowser from each for the Commission inspection.
It was observed by the Commission that the government had incurred a loss of Rs.11.3 million when the CPSTL bought five 13,200-litre fuel transporting bowsers from a bidder who had quoted the highest price.
Accordingly, the Commission has issued summons to the Chairman of CPSTL and the General Manager of Senok Automobiles to produce bowsers to the Commission and bring them to the BMICH premises on September 3.
Earlier it was revealed to the Commission that the tender board had not selected the second-lowest bidder, Senok stating that the exhaust system in the vehicle it offered was different.
“In Sri Lanka, we usually use Euro 01 and Euro 02 standard. So when these new vehicles are brought in, our technicians introduce some changes to the exhaust system to improve vehicle emissions. That’s what the tender document had mentioned. However, we explained in our tender document that the engine in the vehicle we proposed had quoted adhered to the Euro 3 standard. So we didn’t have to make that change to the exhaust system to our proposed vehicle,” General Manager of Senok informed the Commission earlier.
It was observed by the Commission that Senok had been supplying UD trucks to the CPSTL since 1990 and over 140 vehicles had been sold to them.
The Commission was also told that the four out of five trucks were being operated in Kandy and the drivers of those trucks had complained about various issues about their performance and facilities in these trucks. (Yoshitha Perera)