Govt. plans to privatise Litro gas-Bandula

23 July 2015 04:53 pm

Former UPFA MP Bandula Gunawardane said today that the government had given the green light to privatise state owned Litro Gas Lanka Ltd by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Shell Gas Lanka Ltd.

Mr. Gunawardane said the government had signed a MoU with Shell Gas Lanka Ltd to purchase gas at US$105 per tonne, contrary to international tender procedure.

“34 companies had sent tendered to provide gas at lower prices while Shell Gas Lanka Ltd had quoted a higher price (US$ 122). However, the government, contrary to international tender procedure, signed an MoU with Shell Gas Lanka Ltd to purchase LP gas at US$ 105 following secret discussions with them even after the tenders closed. We ask how this was done, and who intervened in this deal?” he said

Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa took over the gas company which had been privatised during the tenure of Chandrika Kumaratunge and named it Litro gas.

He said this was the second biggest fraud of the new government, next to the Bond issue, and added that they would nullify this deal after coming to power. (Ajith Siriwardana)