Mangala denies unfair treatment of Selacine

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera yesterday denied opposition charges that he unfairly rejected the tender of Selacine Television Institution to handle the event management activities of the recently concluded Enterprise Sri Lanka Program, insisting that the entity lacked any legality or government registration.

Finance Minister  Mangala Samaraweera

The Minister pointed out that the company that was given the tender carried out their duties well.

 “Selacine is an organisation which was under my portfolio from time to time. It is not a fully registered organisation anywhere. There is no registration to prove that it is a Government establishment at large. It is nothing more than an organisation with overwhelming corruption. It is in fact a non-entity. Even though they provide services, there is a question over whether Selacine has the necessary capacity to serve a large exhibition like Enterprise Sri Lanka.”

The Minster, who is happy with the delivery of the new event manager, said that the Government was able to arrive at a negotiated rate lower than that which Selacine offered. 

“Selacine submitted the lowest tender. But we did not award the tender to Selacine but selected the next eligible bidder, an experienced company with a proven track record. This company agreed to deliver at a lower price compared to what Selacine offered,” he said, criticising the opposition for trying to stop Enterprise Sri Lanka, a program which has proven to be immensely successful.

“I was in Jaffna witnessing this highly successful Enterprise Sri Lanka program. It is the best ever exhibition visited by over 200,000 people. Some said that it was the best exhibition held in Jaffna after the war,” he confirmed, praising the event managers who enabled 2,873 people in Jaffna to directly benefit during the period of the exhibition.(AH)