Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna MP D.V. Chanaka, while participating in the budget debate held in Parliament today, commented on the controversial tender for the purchase of double cabs.
He said that the 60 billion double cab tender was a highly corrupt tender, that it was a direct deal, and that although an international tender should have taken 42 days, this tender has been reduced to 12 days.
According to the normal procurement procedure, a pre-bid meeting is held even for a tender of Rs. 1 million, but there was no such meeting for this 60 billion tender.
The MP pointed out that this tender has been prepared in such a way that only one company in Sri Lanka can bid. According to the specifications, the engine capacity (CC) should be between 2500 and 3000, and there should be three to five service stations around the country in addition to Colombo.
Five Sri Lankan companies and five international companies submitted bids for this tender, and all except Toyota were rejected. The rejected companies did not have an engine capacity in the 2500cc–3000cc range or did not have the required five service stations.
He pointed out that only Toyota has five service stations in Sri Lanka. He questioned why the purchase of double cabs was so urgent. He further said that in this situation, it would have been better if the double cab order had been given directly to Toyota without issuing a tender.