PM tells SriLankan Airlines to fall in line

An attempt by SriLankan Airlines to bypass the Government procurement process was thwarted by the National Economic Council (NEC), with a stern warning to fall in line with the respective ministry’s instructions or face dismissal. 

During Tuesday’s meeting of the NEC, chaired by President Maithripala Sirisena with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also in attendance, there was a request to bypass the procurement process followed by all State-Owned Enterprises including SriLankan Airlines. 

However, the NEC has decided against allowing the National Carrier to sidestep the set procedure, Public Enterprise Development Minister Kabir Hashim said, adding that SriLankan Airlines would have to abide by the national procurement process for the time-being, explaining that the request was unreasonable.

“The Ministry had already checked with the National Procurement Committee and the committee says that whatever the commercial business, there are established guidelines under the 19th Amendment; you cannot get out of it. We also believe that it has to go through that; and there is no hindrance to SriLankan’s procurement process. There have never been delays on that account because in the case of any item below Rs. 100 million, they can go ahead. It is only the high value items that should go through the procurement process. Therefore we believe that it should go through the NPC for the moment,” Hashim told Daily FT.

The subsequent discussion during the meeting led to members of the Board highlighting difficulties in working with the line ministry causing delays which brought on a reprimand from the Prime Minister, who warned the Board that they would be removed if they did not follow ministerial orders. On an earlier occasion the Board was summoned before the Cabinet over a similar issue.