“We revealed the expressway fraud with evidence, more in hand”
The Convenor of the Voice Against Corruption Organization Wasantha Samarasinghe said that he had revealed information regarding the Rs. 164,400 million financial irregularity during the construction of the 20 km stretch of the Central Expressway from Galagedara to Rambukkana with evidence in hand.He told a media briefing in Colombo yesterday that although nine bidders had applied for the construction of the 20 km stretch, the bids were submitted by a Chinese company and a consortium of several local companies.
He further said that Minister Johnston Fernando should not blame others for not being able to eat what he had served. “They tried to steal public funds. It is our responsibility to reveal these frauds. Since 2011 we have lodged complaints against around 15 Ministers in both the present and previous governments.
They tried to rob the Treasury amidst the Covid-19 crisis and when it goes wrong, they accuse us of taking money from businessmen and companies. We do not mind if this road is built by America, China, India or any other country.
If two companies submit tenders and one company withdraws, its financial value should be considered before awarding the contract to the other company. The Chinese company has submitted a tender for 210 billion rupees while the Sri Lankan company has submitted a tender for 374.4 billion rupees. The financial gap is 164.4 billion rupees. With this revelation the engineers who are engaged in road construction say that this 20 km can be done for 120 billion rupees.
What we say is that if one of the two tenders were rejected, tenders could have been called again. Then the tender with the true value can be identified. Although China has come forward, they are carrying out construction work through Sri Lankan sub-contractors. They do so with a profit of 30 or 40 percent. They get angry when this truth is revealed. We have more information. These will also be revealed in the future.”
