The Ministry of Public Enterprise Development is among many institutions affected by inadequate capacity at the Attorney General’s (AG) Department, Ministry sources say. Under fire for delayed action by many institutions that they are dealing with, the AG is strapped for capacity and is gearing to fill some 200 vacancies, AG officials confirmed. They said [...]

Business Times

State hotels sale held up on AG capacity jam

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The Ministry of Public Enterprise Development is among many institutions affected by inadequate capacity at the Attorney General’s (AG) Department, Ministry sources say.

Under fire for delayed action by many institutions that they are dealing with, the AG is strapped for capacity and is gearing to fill some 200 vacancies, AG officials confirmed. They said that a lot of work is held up owing to the dearth of legal assistants at the department. They are yet to fill these positions.

One such case is the issue that the Ministry of Public Enterprise is facing in finalising a transaction advisor (TA) in the scheduled divestment process for the Hilton and Hyatt Colombo Hotels – via a possible amendment to a connected law.

The AG’s opinion had been sought on this matter earlier this year but the Ministry is yet to receive a formal response.

In mid-April, four parties were shortlisted for the final selection of a transaction advisor. They are Hotelivate Pvt Ltd-India, Jones Lang Lasalle Property Consultants (India) Pvt Ltd, KPMG-Colombo and Lazard Asia Ltd -Singapore, official sources said.

However this process too is likely to get delayed till an amendment is made to a vital piece of legislation. According to legal opinion from the AG, there is no provision for the sale of state assets that come under the Underperforming Enterprises Or Underutilised Assets Act 43 of 2011 including Hilton and Hyatt, unless there is an amendment to this law.

(DEC)

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