BIA E-Gate project to cause a massive loss at a time of economic crisis
The Ministry of Aviation is to expedite the process of establishing electronic gate facilities at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) by awarding the procurement tender of the project to the highest bidder, causing a massive loss to the country.
A discussion on this took place recently at the ministry with Airport and Aviation (Sri Lanka) (Pvt) Ltd officials.
Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva instructed them to establish four e-gates at the Arrivals and Departures Terminals at the airport under Phase I of the project expeditiously.
Accordingly the ministry is now proceeding with the procurement contract awarded to the supplier with the highest quotation in the tender (Rs. 770 million) called on December 15, 2022, official documents transpired.
A joint proposal by the then Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva and former Internal Affairs Minister S.B. Nawinna to set up an e-gate system, consisting of 10 e-gates at a cost of Rs.260 million, has been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in September 2018.
The move is to provide an alternative to the present manual controls by the Immigration and Emigration Department (DIE), which regulates the arrivals and departures into and out of the country.
Majority of the people who go through BIA are Sri Lankans and their information is already electronically recorded, which makes it easier for them to use the proposed e-gates.
Foreigners who arrive in the country can also use e-gates on their departures without queueing up at immigration controls sometimes for more than 30 minutes, the cabinet memorandum said.
Although the project was initiated in 2017, it was not implemented due to various reasons and bids were called to award the tender for four e gates two at the arrival terminal and another two at the departures terminal on December15, 2021 with four suppliers submitting their bids.
The awarding of the tender dragged on for some time due to technical evaluation and other tender procedures.
However the tender awarding process resumed in July 2022 and it was awarded to the highest bidder who has quoted a price of Rs.430 million at that time, official documents showed.
The bids of three other suppliers who have quoted low prices of Rs.130 million, Rs.230 million and Rs.240 million were not considered without citing reasons, official sources said.
The implementation of the project and the awarding of the contract to the selected bidder were again delayed due to the government’s decision to suspend non-essential projects due to economic crisis.
But the Aviation Ministry has taken a decision on the insistence of the DIE to expedite the e-gate project for BIA in January 2023 on the directions of Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva.
Accordingly the contract of the e-gate tender has been given to the selected highest bidder at a price of Rs.770 million, Rs 340 million more than its previous quotation of Rs.430 million, due to the rupee depreciation and by considering the present value of rupee to the dollar, official documents indicated.
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