- Claims SLTB spends above avg. price for spares and repairs
The Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) experiences a loss between Rs.700-800 million per year due to malpractices by bus conductors, officials, and fraudulent purchasing practices, SLTB Chairman S.M.D.L.K.D. Alwis yesterday (11) told The Daily Morning.
He was responding to media reports that the SLTB had incurred losses of Rs. 1 billion per year due to rampant corruption, irregularities, and accidents involving its fleet.
The SLTB Chairman acknowledged that a total loss around Rs. 1 billion had been incurred by the SLTB annually due to malpractices, accidents, and also as a result of the problems in the procurement process.
“According to a survey conducted by the SLTB, an average of 1,400 accidents are reported in connection with the SLTB. We have to spend nearly Rs. 465 million on repairing those vehicles and the SLTB also loses around Rs. 600 million during the repairing period. SLTB loses around Rs. 60-70 million per month due to malpractices of conductors, which causes a loss of Rs. 700-800 million per year,” he said.
He also noted that the SLTB lost a considerable sum of money during the procurement process, as it spent more than 10-15% of the actual cost of materials when purchasing necessary spare parts for repairing the vehicles.
“The SLTB has to purchase spare parts and other materials to repair vehicles. We have understood that some of these purchases are taking place in a fraudulent manner. Due to the foreign exchange crisis, prices of imported materials are more volatile. We have identified that SLTB officials have sometimes needlessly spent over 10-15% when purchasing required materials. The SLTB spends around Rs. 800 million to purchase materials,” he said.
When contacted by The Daily Morning yesterday (11), Ministry of Transport and Highways Secretary Priyantha Mayadunne declined to comment, claiming that he lacked the necessary information regarding the matter.
He noted that the ministry was looking into the issues that continued to cause losses and would discuss with the SLTB management to overcome these issues.