The Electricity Consumers Association (ECA) has written to several parties including the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), seeking an investigation into the alleged financial irregularities of nearly Rs. 30 billion (Bn) in the importation of fuel and crude oil for the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) in 2022, and action against the responsible individuals.
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (30 November), the ECA General Secretary Sanjeewa Dhammika said that a report compiled by the Auditor General's (AG) Department in August 2023, had revealed massive financial irregularities in the importation of fuel and crude oil in 2022. He claimed that the CPC had signed a long-term agreement to purchase diesel between 1 March and 31 October 2022, and that under that agreement, the relevant company had agreed to supply diesel at United States Dollars ($) 6.98 per barrel. Despite the said agreement, he alleged that the CPC had paid $ 24 per barrel when purchasing 995,992 barrels of diesel from the relevant company and that thus, a financial irregularity of Rs. 3.04 billion had occurred. Furthermore, while having a contract with the said company to supply a barrel of diesel at $ 6.98, he claimed that the CPC had purchased 922,381 barrels of diesel during the relevant period at the high prices of $ 13.83, $ 17, and $ 19.87 from another two companies, and that an irregularity of Rs. 3.38 billion had been caused through it.
Dhammika also charged that there have been frauds related to the sale of low quality fuel by substituting the high quality fuel price during the course of 2022. While 1,820,012 barrels of auto diesel have been imported in 2022, he claimed that their price has been set based on high quality fuel prices instead of the actual cost, and that through it, a financial fraud of Rs. 3.87 billion has taken place. In addition, he alleged that 599,722 barrels of low quality diesel have been imported under the credit facility provided by the Government of India for the purchase of essential commodities, and that a fraud of Rs. 1.67 billion has taken place due to the fixing of the price on that diesel on the basis of the prices paid for high quality fuel. He further claimed that 2,023,509 barrels of inferior crude oil have been imported from Siberia on three other occasions in 2022, and that a fraud of Rs. 17.87 billion has been committed in the related transactions.
Speaking further, he said that the people have to bear an additional cost of nearly Rs. 30 billion due to the sale of low-quality-imported fuel at higher prices. Apart from the people having to pay higher prices for fuel, he said that the reason for the increase in electricity tariffs at very high rates in the past was also due to high fuel prices.
He alleged that several months have passed since such a massive fraud was revealed, but that the relevant authorities have not taken any action in that regard, and that even the AG, who revealed this fraud, is trying to hide it. "The AG has neglected to translate this audit report into Sinhala and Tamil and make it public. In addition, the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) does not bother to discuss this matter. The CIABOC, which investigates even incidents of taking bribes of Rs. 1,000, is silent on this massive fraud." he claimed, and added that the extension of the service of M.P.D.U.K. Mapa Pathirana, who held the position of the Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy during the time of these alleged financial frauds, and the fact that the subject Minister (Kanchana Wijesekera) does not publish a correct fuel price formula are also questionable.
Considering the matter, Dhammika said that the ECA, through a letter dated yesterday (30 November), had requested the Acting Inspector General of Police Deshbandu Tennakoon, the CIABOC, the National Audit Office, the Central Bank, the Public Utilities Commission, the Consumer Affairs Authority, the COPE, the Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, the Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, and all other political party leaders to intervene to initiate an immediate investigation into the frauds, and to take steps to recover the losses from the relevant officials.