Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa took the Government to task in Parliament on Thursday over the transparency and efficiency of fuel procurement at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, raising a series of formal questions under Standing Order 27(2).
Premadasa demanded the disclosure of new suppliers registered with the CPC over the past 12 months, the names of any suppliers excluded from distribution and the action taken against those who failed to meet contractual obligations. He also asked for a breakdown of emergency procurements and long-term contracts awarded over the past year along with the technical and commercial evaluation criteria used, and urged the Government to compare those criteria against international practice.
The Opposition Leader pressed for a comparative report on prices between long-term contracts and emergency purchases, the three most expensive procurements, the number of bids received in each case and the suppliers eventually awarded tenders.
He flagged a specific case in which a supplier awarded a term tender failed to execute it, after which the procurement was carried out through a spot tender at a higher price — and again awarded to the same party. Premadasa said the case required urgent explanation, accusing the Government of conducting purchases that have been “disadvantageous to the country.”
He also raised the technical question of feedstock switching at the Sapugaskanda refinery, where Murban crude has replaced Iranian Light. Premadasa said the change had affected production percentages, costs and final prices, and asked whether there were differences between the recommendations of CPC technical evaluation committees and Cabinet-level procurement committees.
The intervention opens a procurement-process accountability track that runs in parallel to the USD 2.5 million Treasury cyber theft debate the Opposition has been pressing through the same parliamentary session.
