E-Gate procurement at BIA advances despite past irregularities
View(s):The long-delayed project of installing e-gates at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) as one of the solutions to passenger congestion is to be expedited under the present government, the Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation Ministry confirmed.
This decision has been taken at a high-level committee meeting held at the ministry recently to go-ahead with the electronic gate (e-gate) system project with Japanese grant assistance.
The committee has comprehensively reviewed the project’s current status, focusing on the installation of modern electronic gate systems at key points of entry and exit in Sri Lanka.
It has focused attention on various administrative, technical, and logistical challenges that may arise during the project’s implementation. A suggestion has been made to fast-track approval processes, enhance inter-agency coordination, and incorporate localised solutions that align with international standards.
The previous regime has made arrangements for airport automation and e-gate development pilot project awarding the contract to a private technology company, the highest bidder for the tender to install four e-gates by December 2023.
The technical evaluation committee selected the prospective bidder following a government tender adopting proper procedures during at that time.
However, the effectiveness of these electronic gates system depends on the use of an e-passport that is machine readable, a senior finance ministry official said adding that Sri Lankan passports are still to be made electronic. The airport check-in and check-out back-up operations are still not upgraded with modern technology and relevant software has to be compatible with the new e -gate system, a senior finance ministry official pointed out.
Although the project was initiated in 2017, it was not implemented due to various reasons and bids were called to award the tender for four e-gates, two at the arrival terminal and another two at the departures terminal on December15 2021 with four suppliers submitting their bids.
The awarding of the tender dragged for some time due to technical evaluation and the other tender procedures.
However the tender awarding process resumed in July 2022 and it was awarded to the highest bidder who had quoted price of Rs.430 million at that time, official documents showed.
The bids of three other suppliers who have quoted lower prices of Rs.130 million, Rs.230 million and Rs.240 million were not considered without citing reasons, informed official sources said.
It was observed that the nominated bidder has given a 35 per cent discount on originally offered price US$2.08 million to expedite this procurement process in favour for them due to some unknown reasons.
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