By Yoshitha Perera
All high-level tenders related to the tri-forces are being handled by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the contract to supply military helmets is also being monitored and managed by the MoD, Military Spokesman Brig. Nilantha Premaratne told The Sunday Morning.
He confirmed seeing the media reports circulating regarding a local manufacturer’s request to reconsider the decision to award a tender for the supply of 10,000 ballistic helmets. However, he said he was unaware of such a procurement plan so far.
Brig. Premaratne said: “All these high-level tenders, especially ballistics-related product requirements for the tri-forces, are being handled by the MoD. I was unaware about the requirement of changing the local manufacturer and awarding the particular tender to a different entity.”
Accordingly, when The Sunday Morning contacted MoD Media Co-ordinator Col. Chandima Kumarasinghe, he said that details pertaining to the tender procedure had to be obtained from the information officer at the Ministry, which would take some time.
“There is a special procedure to obtain these details and it will take some time to process,” he said.
However, several attempts to contact the local manufacturer who had sent a letter to the President, requesting to reconsider the company's tender, proved futile.
As per the letter, one Harsha International (Pvt.) Ltd., stated as the only company that supplied ballistics-related products for the tri-forces during the three-decade war, wrote to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa requesting the reconsideration of its tender, which had been awarded to State Trading (General) Corporation (STC) on 29 July by the relevant procurement committee.
In the letter, the Managing Director of the said company, Harsha Wijetunge, had claimed that the decision was unfair, since the company had upgraded its technology with new machinery during the past years and it had already supplied nearly 75,000 military helmets to the tri-forces.
While stating the grievances, she had reportedly said that the production had been carried out for more than 15 years and the company had met all the relevant qualifications, which would significantly increase the foreign reserves in the country. In the letter, she had also requested the President to conduct a special inquiry into the matter.
Tender 10,000 military helmets: High-level tri-forces tenders handled by MoD
07 Aug 2021
Tender 10,000 military helmets: High-level tri-forces tenders handled by MoD
07 Aug 2021