Presidential Commission reveals details of shady SriLankan airlines deals

Colombo (News1st) - During the proceedings of the Presidential Commission on SriLankan Airlines, SriLankan Catering Ltd, and Mihin Lanka today (Aug 13th) details regarding a shady tender deal involving Sri Lankan airlines was revealed. Evidence was provided by the Commercial Procurement Manager at SriLankan Airlines. It was revealed that in August 2013, the security department of Sri Lankan Airlines had requested the purchase of 2 baggage X-ray machines and 1 heavy cargo X- ray machine citing that it was an operational requirement. By December 2013 the technical specifications for the machines were drawn up and SriLankan airlines began the process of accepting bids. Of the 4 bids that came in, two matched the technical requirements and they were opened on the 16th of January 2014. The two companies that handed in the successful bids were  Nimrods Engineering & Exel Trading International Pvt. Ltd. This particular tender was canceled by the 10th of June 2014 by the tender board citing the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines MH370 and the possibility of a terrorist attack. However the about a month later on the 22nd of July, the canceled tender was approved by the Head of Finance at Sri Lankan airlines. Subsequently, later on in the year, a second bidding process commenced. Upon further questioning, it was revealed that the technical specifications drafted in the second bidding process differs from the first and that many of the specifications cited meet the specifications of the machines provided by Exel Trading International Pvt Ltd. The requirements listed in the second tender request was incidentally sub-par in comparison to the first tender. Exel had come third in the first technical evaluation, however, it was chosen as the most suitable supplier in the second evaluation process. Incidentally, it was agreed during the proceedings today that Exel had quoted the same equipment in both tenders. Thus, questions were raised as to why substandard equipment was bought during the second tender process, while the first was canceled citing a possible terrorist threat.