SriLankan airlines suffered losses during the procurement of flight simulators

COLOMBO (News 1st) - It was revealed today (Jan 3) that the management of SriLankan Airlines signed an agreement to buy two flight simulators in 2011 at a cost of around USD 28 million, violating the procurement guidelines, at a cost twice the market price. This was revealed at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on irregularities at SriLankan Airlines, SriLankan Catering, and Mihin Lanka today (January 03). Acting Chief of Service Delivery, Captain Rajind Ranatunga told the commission that in October 2011 the national carrier had decided to procure two simulators given the high cost of sending cadets to be trained overseas. SIM-Industries BV was chosen as the supplier of simulators in 2011 but this was not done according to the procurement manual of 2009. There was no competitive bidding, no technical evaluation or shortlisting and the ''little known'' SIM-Industries BV was chosen by the UL management at that time. Senior Deputy Solicitors General, Neil Unamboowe, leading the evidence stated that former CEO Manoj de Vass Gunawardena, former Head of Flight Operations, Druvi Perera, Former Chairperson Nishantha Wickremesinghe, and CFO Yasantha Dissanayake could have saved the airline a lot of money if they had followed the procurement guidelines. Unamboowe also revealed that the UL’s agreement for the A320 simulator was not with SIM but with the former SIM CEO Frank Uit den Bogaard. “He is out of the company but he is still making money,” Unamboowe said.