Education Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), Pubudu Jagoda, has called on the government to issue a clarification regarding widespread speculation that the chairman of the Lanka Coal Company resigned in protest over alleged irregularities in the awarding of a coal tender.
Speaking at a media briefing held in Nugegoda last Friday (22), Jagoda alleged that serious malpractice had taken place in the tender process. He pointed out that under national procurement guidelines, a period of six weeks should usually be allowed for submissions, but in this instance only three weeks had been given. This, he said, restricted wider participation and effectively enabled a prearranged party to secure the tender.
Jayagoda said that the government had justified the shortened deadline by citing an “emergency,” but had failed to specify what that emergency was. He warned that by deviating from the established February–May timeline for calling tenders, the process had been delayed until August, meaning that the first coal shipment would
only reach Sri Lanka in November instead of September. This, he said, would likely result in a coal shortage.
The FSP spokesman further warned that such delays would force the country either to purchase coal at inflated prices. He said the costs that would ultimately be passed on to electricity consumers through higher bills or to face the prospect of power cuts in October and November if rainfall also diminished.
He also raised suspicions that the delay was intended to benefit private diesel power plant operators, who would stand to profit from a coal shortage. Jagoda alleged that a particular company linked to a well-known figure was being favoured, and recalled that the same company had previously been granted support to operate an aircraft linked to a controversial financial transaction with Uganda.
“The government that once loudly condemned Rajapaksa-era corruption has now handed this deal to one of their closest associates,” Jagoda charged, describing the move as a grave issue of political ethics and an act of sacrificing the country’s entire power sector to serve one individual’s interests.
He said that the government must immediately provide a full explanation to the public.
by Chaminda Silva 