Bimal Rathnayake admits substandard coal imports

26 March 2026 08:23 pm Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 12 Bookmark

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Colombo, March 26 (Daily Mirror) - Minister Bimal Rathnayake has acknowledged that substandard coal had been imported to Sri Lanka, stating that the company responsible has already paid fines amounting to up to USD 2 million.

Speaking at a public event, the Minister said laboratory tests conducted on the consignment have confirmed that the coal did not meet the required quality standards, following which financial penalties were imposed on the supplier.

He noted that coal procurement involves a complex tender process that must be managed carefully to ensure uninterrupted supply, adding that imposing fines was the only immediate course of action available.

Minister Rathnayake further stated that replacing the supplier at this stage was not feasible, as procurement procedures take several months to complete. He warned that imposing excessive penalties could risk the company declaring bankruptcy, which in turn could disrupt the country’s coal supply.

Comments - 12

Twisting the Arm Thursday, 26 March 2026 08:40 PM

Basically, the company in question has more power than the government and have held everyone to ransom. The government never had a back up plan on how to handle if there is a breach of trust or contractual obligations are broken. This is an example of how a door is open for corruption to be justified.

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jimbo Thursday, 26 March 2026 08:47 PM

They are jack of all trades and master of none.

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In a hurry Thursday, 26 March 2026 08:56 PM

Next confession would be the gas agreement

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Pathetic Thursday, 26 March 2026 08:56 PM

What about the hundred or so lies uttered previously in and out of the parliament?

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Rama Nanayakkara Thursday, 26 March 2026 09:00 PM

Wow. Great vetting of supplier by this Tender Board. All involved should be asked to payback the damages

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Kays Thursday, 26 March 2026 11:43 PM

As is the case with politicians, seems more concerned about the supplier than the country? No system change there!

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S P Friday, 27 March 2026 04:11 AM

The minister explains the obvious but doesn’t tell us how this happened. Why did they change a smooth tendering process that was working? Who was responsible? Why do we have to wait until a future government for this? The problem in this hapless country is everything has been politicised. Including maintaining law and order. The rulers make absolute disasters but we need a change of a whole government to correct them. When we change a government it goes from bad to worse. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can do better than that.

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Izzett Yusuf Friday, 27 March 2026 06:32 AM

Ha.hs. so go on importing inferior coal. Can't think of alternative

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Priyanee Wijesekera Friday, 27 March 2026 08:22 AM

Reading between the lines this is a clear indication that the govt will continue to deal with these suppliers without blacklisting them. They will continue to sell substandard coal at high prices This is a system change

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Realistica Adams Friday, 27 March 2026 09:24 AM

Minister, don’t waste your time on this topic. It is music for some, but rational thinkers understand that in any tender for purchase of goods, the supplier can fail in their promised duty. Just get on with it. It’s a loss for SL alright, but how much wilful losses has SL sustained in the past? Let the holy innocents’ of the past sing their music. Can’t smell any wrong doing here, may be bad luck or a mistake. Even in squeaky clean countries this sort of mishaps do happen, so long as it’s not repeated.

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Lokka Friday, 27 March 2026 09:44 AM

We can accept a genuine mistake but not fraud.

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Coal testing Friday, 27 March 2026 11:03 AM

There should pre shipment test procedure to ensure the quality of the cargo meets expectations and to avoid all the losses and hassles later on. Why do you have to wait till cargo arrival to do the testing, there should be a 2nd testing, but this is to ensure the same quality as the 1st test. The supplier to make sure he sends the right cargo, otherwise should be black listed, unless unable to black list due to some commissions involved.

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