The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption has received at least two complaints regarding an agreement signed last week between the Highways Ministry and China Harbour Engineering Corporation (CHEC) to settle outstanding dues totaling Rs 7.91 billion.
Although the settlement was finalized on September 6, the Road Development Authority (RDA) has yet to make the payment.
On August 27, the Cabinet approved the payment for the Kottawa-Dodangoda section of the Southern Expressway, which was opened 10 years ago. The exact breakdown of the hefty payment, which has been exacerbated by rupee depreciation, remains unclear.
The Cabinet granted approval despite CHEC not adhering to standard contract procedures, such as seeking resolution through the Dispute Adjudication Board (DAB).
CHEC was the contractor for the 35km Kottawa-Dodangoda stretch, while the project engineers were Oriental Consultants Co Ltd (OCCL), based in Tokyo. The section was financed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and opened in 2011. That same year, a dispute emerged between CHEC and OCCL, with the Chinese company demanding payment for work the consultants had not certified.
Nimal Chandrasiri, the former Director of the Southern Transport Development Project (STDP), along with other authoritative RDA sources, confirmed that payment was rejected on at least three occasions by both the consultants and the project office. “We found the claims unjustified,” he stated. Opposition to the payment remains strong within the RDA.
