- Accuses Chair of corruption and fraud
CEAT Kelani International Tyres (Pvt) Ltd. (CEAT) has filed a Fundamental Rights application before the Supreme Court, alleging that its Fundamental Rights (FR) have been violated by the decision of the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) Chairman to issue a purchase order to procure 2,660 tyres from Ferentino Tyre Corporation (Pvt) Ltd. (FTC).
CEAT has accordingly levelled accusations of corruption against the SLTB and its Chairman.
According to the petition filed by CEAT before the Supreme Court on 21 August, a tender had been called for the supply of tyres in the mix of sizes 750x16, 825x20, 900x20, and 1,000x20 to the SLTB, with both CEAT and FTC submitting bids.
Thereafter, the tender had been awarded to FTC. Aggrieved by this decision, CEAT appealed to the Procurement Appeal Board, where the appeal is presently pending.
However, according to the petition, while the aforesaid appeal had been pending, the SLTB had issued a purchase order to FTC for about 2,660 tyres and FTC has already supplied about 600 tyres under the said purchase order.
CEAT claims that despite the conclusions of a technical committee consisting of three members, which had determined that the tyres provided by FTC did not meet the SLTB specifications and were unsuitable for SLTB use, the SLTB Chairman had continued to advocate for the procuring of the requisite tyres from FTC.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, SLTB Chairman S.M.D.L.K.D. Alwis rejected the allegations made by CEAT, claiming that the accusations had been made simply because CEAT had lost its business with the SLTB after 20 years. He pointed out that the SLTB was obligated to select the most cost-effective option when granting the tender.
“Our obligation is to select the bid that is most favourable to the SLTB. FTC offered tyres of the required specifications at around Rs. 8,000-9,000 cheaper and the tyres also have a mileage exceeding that of CEAT’s by around 8,000 km. Considering that this tyre was cheaper and had better mileage, it was approved by the technical evaluation committee. However, thereafter, certain minor issues arose with regard to the technical specifications. These technical issues were identified by the committee appointed.
“If buses were to stop operating, it would inconvenience the public. If we lack sufficient tyres, around 700-800 buses will stop operating. Therefore, in order to prevent any inconvenience to the public, the ministry secretary instructed the procurement of sufficient tyre stocks for a month,” Alwis stated.
He stated that it had been decided to procure a month’s stock of tyres from FTC despite the existence of certain minor technical issues, in order to prevent any inconvenience being caused to the public. However, he noted that if the tyres provided by FTC failed to provide the quoted mileage, the SLTB would impose a rebate on FTC in respect of the shortfall.
In its application to court, CEAT has alleged that the decision-making process of the SLTB in respect of the tyre procurement has been influenced by corruption and, in particular, that the decisions of the SLTB Chairman are contrary to the best interests of the SLTB and have been motivated by extraneous and collateral considerations.
CEAT has alleged that during the preliminary testing for validation of the technical specifications, the engineering staff of the SLTB had observed that in a significant quantity of tyres supplied by FTC, the tyre number – which is indicative of the date of manufacture – had been tampered with by applying rubber to the surface of the tyre and re-stamped.
Accordingly, CEAT claims in its petition that “it is common knowledge that as tyres age, they begin to crack within. This is mostly invisible to the naked eye from the outside. This happens when UV light oxidises the rubber, causing it to dry out. Although tyres contain anti-oxidising chemicals to slow this process down, this only works when the tyres are moving. If the vehicle is left unused for some time, or the tyres are stored away for some time, they’ll deteriorate faster than if they’re used frequently. Hence, tyres that are stored for a long time without being used deteriorate faster. This is why the date of manufacture is of the utmost significance.”
Accordingly, when the aforesaid issue was brought to the attention of the SLTB Chairman, he had appointed a three-member technical committee composed of Deputy Technical Engineer (Production) P.A.S. Harischandra, Tyre Engineer D.H. Vithana, and SLTB Tyre Clerk T.A.A. Wijesiri, to carry out an investigation into the tyres supplied by FTC.
CEAT alleges in its petition that the aforementioned three-member technical committee had identified serious flaws, lapses, and fraudulent misrepresentations made by FTC in its bidding document and serious flaws and issues in the tyres supplied by FTC. Therefore, the committee had concluded that the tyres supplied by FTC do not conform to the SLTB specifications and are not suitable for the use of the SLTB.