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Sabotage at BIA: Rs. 100m damage to equipment
A strike by a pro-government trade union at the Bandaranaike International Airport resulted in serious damage to vital equipment due to sabotage, an official report said.
Airport and Aviation Authority (AAA) Chairman Prasanna Wickremasuriya in the report said the strike had disrupted flights and airport services for more than four hours. He said the estimated loss to the airport was more than Rs. 100 million.
A senior AAA official said the report was sent to Civil Aviation Ministry Secretary Ravindra Ruberu on Thursday following a technical evaluation of the damage caused.
The main damage had been caused to the security scanner and the interior cooling system after power supplies were cut off and the backup power supplies were also allegedly switched off by trade unionists, he said.
The official said some of the equipment was beyond repair and might have to be replaced. The cargo belts were also damaged because the cargo had remained on them for a long time without being rotated. Civil Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne said he had ordered a probe to find out who was responsible for the damage. “The AAA chairman and the administration should take the responsibility for failing to avert the strike,” he said.