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Tender for 10K ballistic helmets awarded to STC: Local manufacturer cries foul over Govt.’s decision

05 Aug 2021

  • Requests reversal of procurement committee’s decision
By Dinitha Rathnayake Harsha International (Pvt.) Ltd., the only local company that supplied ballistics-related product requirements for the Tri-Forces during the war, has written to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa requesting he reconsider the decision to award a tender for the supply of 10,000 ballistic helmets. The relevant Procurement Committee, on 29 July, had awarded said tender called on 22 April 2020 to the State Trading (General) Corporation (STC). The letter from Harsha International, signed by the company’s Managing Director Himani Wijetunge, claimed that this decision was unjust. Wijetunge noted that even during the three-decade war, the company had supplied nearly 75,000 helmets to Government forces, adding that it has further developed its technology to import new machinery and manufacture helmets. In her letter, she said it was “regrettable” that her company’s product, which has been in production for more than 15 years and passed all the relevant tests, was rejected, adding that this tender would greatly aid the helmet manufacturing industry. Wijetunge thus requested the President to conduct a special inquiry into the matter, and hand over the order to Harsha International – the only local manufacturer, noting this will help save the country's foreign exchange and provide employment to a large number of employees.


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