Way open for tender fixers

Government has ordered the National Procurement Agency (NPA) to wind up its functions by February 29 without giving any reasons, and told its employees they would thereafter come under the Public Finance Division of the Treasury, well placed sources said.

The NPA was set up to overcome corruption in Government tender procedures. A senior official at NPA, who wished to remain anonymous, however said they could be facing the axe for the simple reason of not doing wrong things to help corrupt elements.

Another official said that he was not authorized to speak on the matter and requested us to speak to Presidential Secretary to get details. Sources said the NPA set up under a Presidential decree in 2004 was a well marked target for quite some time judging by the actions of the authorities. For sometime no new directors have been appointed to its Board and a draft Act to give it proper legal authority, though it had been ready for some time, had not been submitted to Parliament for approval.

When The Sunday Times visited the NPA web site, we found that under “Members of the Board” only its Chairman Daya Liyanage’s name appears. Sources alleged that thanks to such step-motherly treatment the NPA has not had a single Board meeting in more than a year.

Contacted a fortnight ago, Mr. Liyanage said: “I don’t know much about it. I will only get to know the exact details next week.” When pressed to explain he said he will comment on the issue the following week.

Many attempts made to contact Mr. Liyanage since then proved futile. Attempts made to contact President's Secretary Lalith Weeratunga and Treasury Secretary Dr P.B. Jayasundera in this regard also failed. We even left a message with Dr Jayasundera’s secretary requesting a chance to speak to him without any success.

Mr. Liyanage, a former Deputy Secretary to the Treasury and a former High Commissioner to Malaysia has headed the NPA from its inception and according to sources he had developed it to international standards acceptable to donors, who increasingly insist on good governance from aid recipients.

“So all the good work done by this indispensable and independent institute in preparing procurement manuals and tender guidelines down to minute detail spending millions of rupees in tax payers’ money will ultimately go to waste”, a source said.

When the Treasury’s own actions such as the role it played in the privatization of so many state owned ventures in the past are under questioning, sources said it only pointed to bad old habits being once again entrenched in the Government procurement process.

Ironically the NPA proudly advertises its ‘mission’ on its web page as: “Assist, guide and direct the public sector to ensure effective procurement system through transparent, accountable and speedy process, by formulating guidelines, standards and policies in line with the development objectives and strategies of the government.”