In a dramatic turn of events, the State Engineering Corporation (SEC) has been tasked with the responsibility of awarding tenders and implementing procurement procedures in the reconstruction of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) building without any intervention from the Ministry of Construction and Engineering Services in the wake of conflict of interest allegations levelled against Ministry Secretary Nissanka N Wijeratne.
The estimated cost for reconstruction of the building which was damaged on February 20 in an LTTE attack is Rs.1.04 billion and work, according to a new schedule should be completed by the SEC by around January next year against December 2009 earlier.
Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne told the Sunday Times FT that he directed the board of directors of the SEC to take decisions on awarding tenders and to appoint the Chairman of SEC as the head of the procurement committee.
All the procurement committees appointed on the directions of the Ministry Secretary have been cancelled following representations made by the IRD and the Treasury. An IRD representative of the IRD will also be included in the procurement committee, the Minister said. A senior SEC official said that evaluation and award of tenders should be done within a period of five days after tenders close as otherwise it will seriously affect the handing over of the project for which the SEC is liable to a payment of Rs. 500,000 for each delayed day. |
E-mail