COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera thanked SJB MP, Dr. Harsha De Silva, for calling for an investigation into the tender that was called for the procurement of coal for the Norochcholai Power Plant.The Minister said that the COPF in its report on the investigation into Coal Procurement has said that Auditor General preliminarily observes that a fair & sufficient time was not accommodated to suitable bidders & thereby has deviated from the Procurement guidelines.The Minister added that the Auditor General's observations said certain limitations on their investigation & unavailability of information in a short time."Officials of the procurement committee has been notified of the observations & recommendations & will respond accordingly," tweeted the Minister.Kanchana Wijesekera said that it would be appropriate for the Committee on Public Finance to consider responses of the officials in this regard & direct to be fully investigated by a suitable authority.Sri Lanka's Auditor General has reported that the tender to procure coal for the Norochcholai Power Plant from 2022 to 2025 did not follow the approved procurement process.Dr.
Harsha de Silva an MP from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya told Parliament that the tender to provide coal from 2022 to 2025 was awarded to a company named 'Black Sands'.