Cabinet has approved awarding a road improvement contract worth about Rs 756.9 million, excluding taxes, to Asset Engineering (Pvt) Limited for an additional section of roadway in the Central Province.
Cabinet Co-Spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa announced the decision at the post-cabinet briefing on Tuesday, 27 October, EconomyNext reported at 3.05 p.m. Colombo time.
The stretch
The project upgrades the road from kilometre 10+500 to kilometre 16+890 on the Norwood–Bogawanthalawa–Campion (B329) route — a 6.39-kilometre section running through the tea country of the Nuwara Eliya district.
Three bids were received, Jayatissa said.
The same contractor won a comparable hill-country contract six weeks ago
On 15 September this desk reported that Cabinet awarded Asset Engineering a Rs 791.68 million contract to rebuild the B512 Blackpool–Ambewela–Pattipola–Horton Plains road, a 6.8-kilometre stretch damaged during Cyclone Ditwah. Four bids were received on that one, and the company was named the lowest responsive bidder.
The two contracts are closely comparable in scale. Rs 791.68 million over 6.8 km works out at about Rs 116 million per kilometre; Rs 756.9 million over 6.39 km works out at about Rs 118 million per kilometre. The near-identical rates are consistent with two similar rebuilds of mountain roads in the same province, and each independently supports the other’s plausibility.
This is a derivation by this desk, not a comparison either filing makes.
Not reported
The filing does not say whether Asset Engineering was the lowest bidder, which the September filing did state for the earlier contract. With three bids received and no ranking given, the basis for the award is not on the record.
The description of the work as covering “an additional section” implies this extends an existing contract, but the filing does not say which contract, who holds it, or what the original section was. It gives no start date, no completion date, no scope of works, and no explanation of what condition the road is currently in or why it needs upgrading. It does not say whether this stretch, like the B512, was damaged by Cyclone Ditwah.
No value is given for the other two bids, and the company is not quoted.
Single source. This desk checked the Daily Mirror’s breaking-news listing, the Hiru News homepage rail and the NewsFirst rail directly; no other verified newsroom had filed on this cabinet decision at the time of writing. Routine cabinet procurement decisions are frequently carried by EconomyNext alone. Ada Derana has returned an HTTP 403 block to this desk for some 48 consecutive days.
