Govt. should get procurement process in order

TRANSPORT Minister Bimal Rathnayake told Parliament yesterday that driving licences and number plates with new features will be issued by the Department of Registration of Motor Traffic (DMT) soon.

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According to available statistics, nearly 200,000 new vehicles are running without proper number plates at present. They run with cardboard or paper printouts of their licence number on the vehicles.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said at a public event this week that the prevailing shortage of medicines in the country is not due to shortage of funds but due to procurement-related issues.

These are just two of the instances where the public have to face difficulties because the Government cannot get its procurement process in order.

There have been several instances where tenders have been awarded and later withdrawn after it was revealed that the process was flawed or given in favour of Government supporters.

In July, activist Wasantha Mudalige revealed that the Government had cancelled a tender for the supply and delivery of 700 industrial-type power distribution units for the Electronic National Identity Card (e-NIC) project, following a complaint lodged with the Bribery Commission.