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FSP claims long-term LPG tender cancelled to benefit Avant Garde

08 Jul 2022

The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) yesterday (7) alleged that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa are to blame for the sudden cancellation of the long-term tender with Oman’s OQ company in February, 2022, which has now resulted in the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) shortage in the market.  “A long-term tender was signed in 2020 with the OQ company to supply LPG till 2023. However, on 6 October 2021, Basil Rajapaksa held a discussion with all the relevant officials to cancel the agreement in February, 2022. On that same day, OQ wrote to former Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle, telling him that they were willing to supply LPG for at least two more years. However, two days later, Avant Garde Surface Safety Solutions sent a letter to Litro Gas Lanka Ltd. saying that they are willing to supply LPG,” FSP Education Secretary Pubudu Jayagoda claimed at a media briefing held yesterday.  He showed the letters addressed to Litro Gas Lanka by the Avant Garde Surface Safety Solutions.  “In November, 2021, former Litro Gas Lanka Chairman Theshara Jayasinghe told the media that the President has instructed him to break the ‘gas mafia’, referring to a company that is willing to supply gas for two years. In May, 2022, Jayasinghe told the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) that Avant Garde was willing to supply gas at a lower price, which is why the other agreement was ended. Two days ago, on Tuesday (5), Jayasinghe told the COPE that the President had pressured him to give the tender to Avant Garde. But still, why did Avant Garde fail to supply the gas then? The President and the former Finance Minister are to blame here,” alleged Jayagoda.  Although a COPE press release about the COPE proceedings on Tuesday did not contain the purported statements made by Jayasinghe, it did confirm that Jayasinghe had joined the meeting online.  


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