Pilfering As A Way Of Life – Cabinet Papers Of The UNP Led Government
Prof. Rajiva Wijesingha
After the Central Bank Bond Scam, which there were so many desperate efforts to conceal, evidence about further financial fraud by the present government has come in thick and fast. Most worrying perhaps was the contract signed with regard to an unsolicited bid by the Metallurgical Corporation of China to construct the first phase of what is now known as the Central Expressway.
Or rather I should say the agreement, for a contract has been reported to Cabinet for only part of the area allocated to MCC. For the first section, from Kadawatha to Kossinna, there seems to be no contract, and no actual figure has been reported to Cabinet. It seems to be Rs 30 billion (the so-called savings which the Prime Minister claimed to have made on another road). He did not give details of these savings, which in fact happened because the scope of the road was cut down. And he did not tell Cabinet the precise length of the section of the central expressway to be built with these ‘savings’. Kabir Hashim has said it is 4 kilometres, which means that the people are paying Rs 7.5 billion per kilometer if we accept the Prime Minister’s claim about the ‘savings’.
The second part of the road is from Kossinna to Meerigama. That was an unsolicited project, with negotiations conducted over a weekend. The Prime Minister argued for giving this contract on the basis that another contract with the same company, signed by the previous government, had lapsed. He did not mention that the Attorney General, whose advice had been sought, had recommended that that contract be cancelled. Instead he said that, since the company had to be compensated for start up costs (how much these were was not revealed) they should be given a fresh contract for a different section of the expressway. The rate agreed on was Rs4.5 billion a kilometer, over 60% more than same company had quoted for the contract with the previous government that had lapsed.Read More
