Sri Lanka deep in Chinese tender faux pas!
View(s):Sri Lanka is currently caught in a tender gone wrong as agricultural authorities were on Friday seeking a court order to ensure that any payment is withheld by the banks to the Chinese fertiliser company whose samples have failed twice.
Now with a shipment of fertiliser from the Qingdao Seawin Biotech fertiliser company said to be due at the Colombo Port, the Agriculture Ministry Secretary, the Ceylon Fertiliser Company (CFC) and the Auditor General were filing two cases at the Colombo Commercial High Court to issue a restraining order preventing any payment being made by the People’s Bank to the said company upon arrival.
Agriculture Ministry Secretary Prof. Udith Jayasinghe told the Business Times they have filed on Friday seeking a restraining order from the Commercial Hight Court against any payment to the said Qingdao company or its agents when the vessel with the load of fertiliser arrives in the country. The application will be supported on Monday. He noted that Sri Lanka is not committed to pay even the shipping cost “because we have not given the greenlight” to send the fertiliser to the country. If the ship is coming to the country by force then it is up to the high authorities to take necessary measures like arbitration or negotiation, Prof. Jayasinghe said.
The Agriculture Secretary said Qingdao may ask for some money but the banks are advised not to pay any money. The condition is first and foremost they should come to
Sri Lanka and we should accept; secondly they cannot send without a letter of release; so these are very clear. When the Plant Quarantine Services and the Agriculture Director General have not issued the greenlight then “this is like by force” and “that is not accepted.” “We are not responsible for anything,” Prof. Jayasinghe pointed out adding that in our procurement document it was very clearly indicated that we are not going to do such a thing.”
However a spokesman for the CFC said that according to the terms of the agreement Qingdao has requested 75 per cent of the payment to be made onsite and the balance 25 per cent on arrival in Sri Lanka. Payments are due to be made to the company anyway according to the agreement after seven days.
A number of communiqués between the authorities and the fertiliser company had taken place since it is learnt that Qingdao is now saying they are finding it difficult to meet the Sri Lankan standards to which the authorities have noted they cannot accept this.
The National Fertiliser Secretariat (NFS) has to grant approval and an import permit has to be issued for the stock of fertiliser to be shipped. Though the fertiliser failed testing at the National Plant Quarantine Services (NPQS) it has been shipped.
When the ship arrives, a CFC spokesman stated they can take samples from this shipment and send it to the Department of Agriculture, the Colombo University, the ITI, the SLSI and the NPQS and if it
is in compliance they can unload else, it will be turned around.