The Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) revealed that the North Central Provincial Council spent Rs. 1.17 billion in excess of the allocated budget to renovate 53 roads in 2011, allegedly without following proper procedures.
The findings, based on the province’s 2023 Auditor General’s report, indicated that 741 projects were created by dividing the 53 roads into smaller contracts—many valued under Rs. 5 million. This approach allowed bypassing competitive bidding, COPA heard. A single contractor was awarded 629 of those contracts, worth Rs. 2.93 billion, without a public tender process.
COPA members also found that some roads, which should have cost around Rs. 11 million per kilometer, were billed up to Rs. 45 million. Officials said most of the roads were later deemed substandard, and payments were halted based on a 2013 university-led review.
One of the senior officials overseeing the projects at the time had previously been removed from another government agency over misconduct allegations and has since died.
COPA noted the projects may represent one of the most significant instances of corruption in Sri Lanka’s road development history. The committee recommended identifying responsible officials, recovering misused funds, and submitting complaints to relevant law enforcement bodies.
In a separate case from 2017, Rs. 100 million paid upfront for a proposed Rs. 542 million auditorium at a school with fewer than 500 students went to waste after the project was abandoned. COPA questioned the rationale behind the decision, which was reportedly authorized solely by the then-chief minister.
COPA instructed the officials to submit a report within three weeks on both matters. (Newswire)