Litro: WB satisfied with procurement process

Former COPE Chairman’s allegation

The top management of national gas supplier Litro yesterday (16) said that contrary to unsubstantiated allegations regarding the misappropriation of World Bank funds in the procurement of LP gas, the financial institution is satisfied with the handling of the procurement process.

Litro Chairman Muditha Peiris said so when The Island sought his response to former Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), Prof. Charitha Herath, accusations that as much as Rs 1.3 bn had been misappropriated The World Bank and the government allocated USD 70 mn and USD 20 mn, respectively for the procurement of gas after the disruption of the supplies.

The Litro Chairman emphasized that they had an opportunity to discuss the issue at hand with the World Bank representatives recently at the Litro head office. Responding to another query, Peiris said that World Bank representatives had appreciated the efforts made by Litro to carry out distribution in a systematic way.The Litro Chairman said that they had responded when the issue was raised during COPE proceedings. Peiris insisted that there hadn’t been any issue with regard to the selection process and the stand taken by the World Bank should bring the controversy to an end (SF)