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Litro denies delaying LPG 280,000 MT bid

22 Sep 2022

  • Responds to allegation that Litro is dragging its feet
BY Safrah Fazal   In response to allegations made by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Opposition MP S.M. Marikkar, who charged that Litro Gas Lanka Ltd. was deliberately prolonging the awarding of the tender for 280,000 metric tonnes (MT) of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in an effort to favour a higher bidder, Litro stated that the selection of the bidder was not in its control, and that the bids were under evaluation by the Ministry of Power and Energy, the Standard Cabinet-Appointed Procurement Committee (SCAPC), and the Cabinet of Ministers. Speaking in Parliament yesterday (21), Marikkar called for the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) to investigate into Litro’s LPG procurements.  “At the COPE meeting in July, it was revealed that Rs. 1,200 million was spent in excess on the procurement of 100,000 MT of LPG, when it was possible to purchase it at a much lower rate. Litro’s response was that although it was a much higher cost, they were successful in dispersing the gas queues. Now, they have called a tender for 280,000 MT of LPG for the following year.  “They are citing technical issues and dragging out the tender process. There are only 30,000 MTs that are to arrive in October, so if they don’t select the lowest bidder and award the tender accordingly, a gas shortage will arise in October, thus causing the re-emergence of gas queues. Then, they will argue that they should go for a spot tender to disperse the queues, and subsequently award the tender to the previous supplier (Oman Gas Company).” When contacted by The Morning yesterday, Litro Gas Lanka Ltd. Chairman Muditha Peiris stated that the evaluation and selection of the bidder for the term tender, which was opened two months ago for 280,000 MTs which could last till early 2024, was not in control of Litro but the Ministry, the SCAPC, and the Cabinet.  “Usually, it takes a long time to award tenders, but we are expediting the process, and we should be able to hopefully finalise a bidder by this month. Until then, we will have sufficient stocks of LPG.” When queried about whether the two LPG suppliers, namely Oman Gas Company and Siam Gas Trading, who were embroiled in Litro’s controversial LPG procurement in June, were among the bidders, he replied in the affirmative.  “Not only these two companies, we have had a total of around 11 bidders,” he said. When also queried as to whether funds from the World Bank (WB) will be utilised for the procurement of 280,000 MT of LPG, he replied: “We will not be using funds from the World Bank, but will use Litro funds and obtain the support of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and the Finance Ministry. While we have sufficient rupees, our only issue is with the US dollars. But we will somehow plan something accordingly. We will make sure that there will be no stock-out situation.”


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