By Maheesha Mudugamuwa
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) councillors at the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) are up in arms against the Council’s decision to grant a billion-rupee central Colombo waste management tender to a private company, claiming that the process was corrupt and illegal.
The total cost of the tender is estimated at Rs. 5.1 billion and is for four years, JVP Councillor Hemantha Weerakoon told The Sunday Morning.
According to him, the central Colombo waste management proposal had been submitted to the council session in April and was approved by the Council as only the JVP councillors voted against it while two others abstained from voting.
“Compared to the previous tender that cost only Rs. 19 million per month to dispose the garbage, the new tender costs around Rs. 38 million which is double that of the previous tender that was granted in 2015,” Weerakoon explained.
But the fuel prices are the same and the salaries for the workers had not been increased, and therefore, the JVP councillors questioned on what basis they had increased the garbage disposal cost.
“The whole tender process is corrupt and they had not followed the general tender process. Even the legal department accepts the fact,” he said adding that the advertisement calling for tenders was only published in English newspapers unlike the mandatory requirement to publish it on Sinhala and Tamil newspapers.
“It is very clear that someone had only targeted the respective private company that won the tender according to their individual interest and that company also presented under a different name,” Weerakoon said.
“The council is misusing the tax payer’s money,” he alleged.
“At present, the Council is running at a loss but they are also planning to conduct a workshop for the councillors to change their minds, spending Rs. 1 million per day. This has to be stopped. Unless this corruption stops as soon as possible, the Council would be in a big trouble and ultimately, the taxpayers will have to bear the cost of this corruption,” Weerakoon noted.
When The Sunday Morning contacted the Municipal Commissioner of the CMC V.K. Anura, he denied the allegations levelled by the JVP councillors, claiming that the whole tender process according to his knowledge had been followed and there was no corruption.
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) councillors at the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) are up in arms against the Council’s decision to grant a billion-rupee central Colombo waste management tender to a private company, claiming that the process was corrupt and illegal.
The total cost of the tender is estimated at Rs. 5.1 billion and is for four years, JVP Councillor Hemantha Weerakoon told The Sunday Morning.
According to him, the central Colombo waste management proposal had been submitted to the council session in April and was approved by the Council as only the JVP councillors voted against it while two others abstained from voting.
“Compared to the previous tender that cost only Rs. 19 million per month to dispose the garbage, the new tender costs around Rs. 38 million which is double that of the previous tender that was granted in 2015,” Weerakoon explained.
But the fuel prices are the same and the salaries for the workers had not been increased, and therefore, the JVP councillors questioned on what basis they had increased the garbage disposal cost.
“The whole tender process is corrupt and they had not followed the general tender process. Even the legal department accepts the fact,” he said adding that the advertisement calling for tenders was only published in English newspapers unlike the mandatory requirement to publish it on Sinhala and Tamil newspapers.
“It is very clear that someone had only targeted the respective private company that won the tender according to their individual interest and that company also presented under a different name,” Weerakoon said.
“The council is misusing the tax payer’s money,” he alleged.
“At present, the Council is running at a loss but they are also planning to conduct a workshop for the councillors to change their minds, spending Rs. 1 million per day. This has to be stopped. Unless this corruption stops as soon as possible, the Council would be in a big trouble and ultimately, the taxpayers will have to bear the cost of this corruption,” Weerakoon noted.
When The Sunday Morning contacted the Municipal Commissioner of the CMC V.K. Anura, he denied the allegations levelled by the JVP councillors, claiming that the whole tender process according to his knowledge had been followed and there was no corruption.