Cabinet Spokesman and Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said the coal procurement process was carried out in full compliance with procurement guidelines, rejecting allegations raised by opposition lawmakers.
Addressing the weekly post- Cabinet media briefing, the minister said the current coal tender was conducted through a formal procurement process and approved by the relevant authorities, including the Procurement Commission.
He said 26 registered suppliers had obtained bidding documents, of which 10 submitted bids. A period of 21 days was initially granted and later extended to 28 days, followed by a designated appeals period. No appeals were submitted by unsuccessful bidders.
“If there had been irregularities, the companies that were not awarded the tender would normally have filed appeals. No such appeals were received,” he said.
Jayatissa said that under the process, a load port inspection report is first obtained from a recognized laboratory before the shipment is accepted. Only consignments with a calorific value above 5,900 kilocalories per kilogram are accepted.
After unloading in Sri Lanka, a discharge port report is obtained through an internationally recognized laboratory. He said Cotecna has been selected through a procurement process for a two-year period to conduct these inspections.
According to the minister, penalties are imposed if the calorific value falls below specified standards. If the value is below 5,900 kcal/kg, a double penalty is charged. If it is between 5,900 and 6,150 kcal/kg, a single penalty is imposed. Shipments above 6,150 kcal/kg are accepted without penalty.
He said 10 ships have arrived so far, with eight fully unloaded and the remaining in the process of discharge. Reports for six shipments have been received.
The first shipment, containing 59,831 metric tons, was found to be below the required standard, and a penalty of approximately US$ 2.07 million was imposed, he said. Penalties have also been levied on several other shipments, including US$ 436,000 for the second, US$ 484,929 for the third, US$ 345,652 for the fourth, about US$ 500,192 for the fifth, and US$ 510,677 for the sixth shipment.
Jayatissa said that in previous years, there had been instances where shipments were accepted without proper verification of load port and discharge port reports, but this year, additional verification measures had been introduced, including authentication of the Indian load port laboratory for the first time.
He added that a committee comprising experts from the University of Moratuwa and ministry officials is to be appointed to examine technical issues in the inspection reports and to assess any potential losses. The Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy has taken steps to appoint the committee, he said.
The minister maintained that the current procurement process has followed the established legal and regulatory framework. (Newswire)