Chinese carriages unsuitable for upcountry run
The furore over the recently imported 100 train compartments valued at a whopping Rs.2.5 billion chugged to another twist yesterday, with the revelation that they could not be used for up-country travel.
In what could be a shocking disclosure of public funds being mismanaged, the All Ceylon Railways General Employees’ Union (ACRGEU) charge that none of the 100 train compartments can be used for travel in hill regions, as they cannot break on steep inclines. They allege that the compartments are unsafe as they have a tendency to slip down the slope when stopped as the breaks are unreliable. Each of the compartments cost Rs.25 million.
To add insult to injury, four dining cars that were also imported last month, have not been used at all as they do not have sufficient water supply. “The Ministers and officials who made the decision to import these compartments at massive costs had no idea regarding the requirements. The dining habits of Sri Lankans are different from the Chinese. Our people still have to wash their hands before and after a meal, and the cutlery is re-used after washing. In the new dining cars there is no water for this,” complained ACRGEU General Secretary S. Manawadu.
According to him, the purchase of 15 power sets would have been sufficient to upgrade the beleaguered train services of the entire country, but with the massive expense incurred in the Chinese transaction, many irregularities have come to light. The General Secretary pointed out that only 64 of the 100 compartments are being used, but even these are hampered by technology incompatibilities as they do not match the engines already in possession of railway authorities. The 36 remaining compartments have not been used as there are not enough engines.
When contacted by The Nation, General Manager of Railways (GMR) Dr. L. Gunaruwan refused to comment on the issue, insisting that the inquiry report of the transaction would be presented to him at some point this week. He insisted that it would be impossible to comment on the situation until the report was released, and claimed he had no knowledge of alleged irregularities. However, Manawadu advocates an impartial investigation by the Bribery or Corruption Commission or a similar independent body emphasising that any steps taken by either the Ministry or the GMR would not reveal the true circumstances.
“Considering the mammoth proportions of this corruption, a responsible commission must investigate from the inception. The performance as well as the durability of the compartments have been affected due the technology incompatibility. The true cost of this deal is yet to be ascertained.”
By Uditha Jayasinghe
Source: The Nation
Tags: china, compartment, corruption, dining cars, incompatibilities, inquiry report, irregularities, massive costs, performance, railway authorities, railways, sri lanka, stainless steel, steep inclines, train service, train services, water supply
December 7th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Thank god….this Manawadu fool is not the GMR…..
December 7th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Mr Manawadu 100% correct, these carriages are worthless for uncountry travel and the new Kandy IE carriages had to be changed after they almost caused some serious accidents. Now these Kandy IE carriages are only being used by people break world records by pulling it around!
I wonder how much commis some people got for these carriages.
December 7th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Comrade Manawadu seems to know lot of things except locomotive engineering.If these carraiges are not suitable for upcountry line then will use them for other lines.Let government to import suitable carraiges for upcountry line or to manufacture same in Sri Lanka.What all these nonsence about dining cars let chinese engineers to do suitable modifications.Better to stop talking about the things which we dont know .I like to ask Manawadu and his friends to go and help to reconstruction work of Mannar line. Thank you.