The National Lotteries Board (NLB), which was under the Foreign Ministry in 2017, has seen its procurement process strongly influenced by the Foreign Minister during that time, as disclosed at the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) meeting last week (4).
It was further revealed that in 2017, a tender that had completed the procurement process for the printing of scratch lotteries had been suspended by a cabinet decision made at the request of the then Foreign Minister, despite observations that this was an incorrect decision.
Accordingly, this tender, which was rightfully due to be awarded to Aqua Flex Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd., had been halted. It was noted at the COPE meeting that this cabinet decision was unduly influenced by Printcare Secure (Pvt.) Ltd. and has resulted in heavy losses to the NLB. However, it is not yet possible to call for new tenders for this purpose.
Additionally, it was revealed that NLB’s annual reports for 2017, 2018, and 2019 had not been submitted to Parliament.
The Committee instructed that this matter be looked into, with the relevant reports submitted as soon as possible. It was also noted that NLB had seen several vacancies in executive posts over the years, and COPE Chairman Professor Charitha Herath directed the relevant officials to promptly fill these positions under due process.
It was observed that a number of NLB’s procurement guidelines had been amended, removed, or reintroduced over the last four years, such as the requirement of at least three years’ experience in lottery printing and the limitation on NLB selecting printers that also supply competing institutions.
The need for regulation of the printing process was highlighted by the fact that NLB had spent Rs. 609 million in 2016, Rs. 453 million in 2017, Rs. 506 million in 2018, and Rs. 530 million in 2019 for this purpose.
Further irregularities such as the non-payment of an amount of $ 26,000 due from the Colombo Airport Super Draw and the lack of transparency in the draw process of the Dollar Fortune lottery were noted.
Thus, the Committee directed the NLB to ensure these processes are streamlined and made more systematic to mitigate losses and ensure transparency.
Present at the COPE meeting were MPs Mahinda Amaraweera, Dr. Sarath Weerasekara, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Susil Premajayantha, Jagath Pushpakumara, Eran Wickramaratne, Nalin Bandara, Patali Champika Ranawaka, S.M. Marikkar, and Premnath C. Dolawatta, as well as Secretary to the Ministry of Treasury and Finance S.R. Attygalle and NLB Chairman Lalith Piyum Perera, among other officials.
It was further revealed that in 2017, a tender that had completed the procurement process for the printing of scratch lotteries had been suspended by a cabinet decision made at the request of the then Foreign Minister, despite observations that this was an incorrect decision.
Accordingly, this tender, which was rightfully due to be awarded to Aqua Flex Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd., had been halted. It was noted at the COPE meeting that this cabinet decision was unduly influenced by Printcare Secure (Pvt.) Ltd. and has resulted in heavy losses to the NLB. However, it is not yet possible to call for new tenders for this purpose.
Additionally, it was revealed that NLB’s annual reports for 2017, 2018, and 2019 had not been submitted to Parliament.
The Committee instructed that this matter be looked into, with the relevant reports submitted as soon as possible. It was also noted that NLB had seen several vacancies in executive posts over the years, and COPE Chairman Professor Charitha Herath directed the relevant officials to promptly fill these positions under due process.
It was observed that a number of NLB’s procurement guidelines had been amended, removed, or reintroduced over the last four years, such as the requirement of at least three years’ experience in lottery printing and the limitation on NLB selecting printers that also supply competing institutions.
The need for regulation of the printing process was highlighted by the fact that NLB had spent Rs. 609 million in 2016, Rs. 453 million in 2017, Rs. 506 million in 2018, and Rs. 530 million in 2019 for this purpose.
Further irregularities such as the non-payment of an amount of $ 26,000 due from the Colombo Airport Super Draw and the lack of transparency in the draw process of the Dollar Fortune lottery were noted.
Thus, the Committee directed the NLB to ensure these processes are streamlined and made more systematic to mitigate losses and ensure transparency.
Present at the COPE meeting were MPs Mahinda Amaraweera, Dr. Sarath Weerasekara, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Susil Premajayantha, Jagath Pushpakumara, Eran Wickramaratne, Nalin Bandara, Patali Champika Ranawaka, S.M. Marikkar, and Premnath C. Dolawatta, as well as Secretary to the Ministry of Treasury and Finance S.R. Attygalle and NLB Chairman Lalith Piyum Perera, among other officials.