International bidders cry foul over latest LPG tender
View(s):The awarding of a liquid petroleum gas (LPG) procurement contract to Oman Trading International Ltd (OTI) recently has become a questionable issue owing to alleged failure to follow government tender guidelines and the supplier’s previous track record.
The cabinet of ministers has approved a proposal recently to award a 2-year LPG procurement contract to OTI despite a Special Cabinet Appointed Procurement committee earlier deciding not to award the tender to the OTI previously due to its failure to supply LPG on several occasions in 2017 and 2018, a senior government official who wished to remain anonymous told the Business Times.
Litro Gas, the largest national importer and market leader of LPG in Sri Lanka, will accordingly purchase 740,000 Metric Tons (MT) of LPG from March 1, 2020 for a period of two years from the Oman company.
The main reason to reject the OTI at that time was their failure to supply gas consistently due to lack of sufficient vessels, he said adding that OTI’s efficiency is not satisfactory and the number of vessels they have to supply LPG is very much lower than other suppliers.
OTI was blacklisted earlier but when the Oman Minister made a request to former Minister Kabir Hashim to grant this company the contract of supplying LPG to Sri Lanka on a government to government basis, his request was accepted during the previous regime, he disclosed.
However, a senior officer at Litro Gas speaking to the Business Times on condition of anonymity said that those past records cannot be considered after lifting the 1-year ban on OTI.
He noted that the allegations that have been leveled against awarding the tender were baseless and it was carried out following proper procedure and in a transparent manner.
Tenders were called from international bidders earlier this year for the supply of 740.000 MT of LPG to Litro Gas.
Without considering those bids, OTI had been awarded the tender on an unsolicited bid without following proper tender procedures, several international bidders of this LPG tender told the Business Times.
One of those bidders has sent a letter to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa protesting against the awarding of the tender to OTI without opening the bids of other international bidders, they revealed.
They said that this international company has received a letter of acknowledgment from an additional secretary to the president but no action has been taken to rectify the situation up to now.
These disgruntled bidders have urged the president to review the LPG tender to select suitable international company to supply the country’s requirement on time with high efficiency.
(BS)