By: Staff Writer
April 11, Colombo (LNW): The government’s plan to lease vehicles on five year contracts instead of purchasing vehicles outright for use by state agencies and state enterprises has become a headache for the presidential secretariat following the defaulting of leases of over 60 super luxury vehicles used by three former presidents.
According to this plan, the state institutions including the Presidential secretariat had obtained vehicles on ‘operating leases’ to support leasing companies and the system was expected to be more efficient and cost-effective than maintaining a large state vehicle fleet.
The vehicles were to be returned after 60-months and leasing companies had to bear the cost of insurance and maintenance.
Lease payment of over Rs 2 billion for 60 super luxury vehicles procured on lease basis for the use of three former presidents had been defaulted up to now, Convenor of the Voice Against Corruption Wasantha Samarasinghe disclosed.
He noted that two of these vehicles gone missing and some of the vehicles valued at over Rs 80 million
Former secretaries of the president were responsible for these vehicles as chief accounting officers and the presidential secretariat had filed a case in courts relating to this matter, he said.
Therese over 60 super luxary vehicles had been used by three former presidents since 2006, he revealed adding that names of these persons and details of vehicles will be divulged in the near future
The relevant motor trading companies have already taken measures to recover the total dues for these vehicles including the accumulated interest of 3-4 percent per month as surcharges, he added.
More than 50 state-owned vehicles were not returned after former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was toppled in elections
The 53 vehicles, said to include bullet-proof limousines recovered by the police , are thought to be among 128 missing vehicles.
Among the vehicles was an armour-plated BMW destroyed in a mine attack in Colombo in 2006. Inside was the then defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the president’s younger brother, but he escaped without injury.
Although Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the then Defence Secretary used a fleet of Defence Ministry vehicles, he was allegedly allocated five Defender Jeeps and a High-Security vehicle from the Presidential Secretariat.
The former Defence Secretary was given a Range Rover High – Security Jeep bearing registration number KC-8511 and five Defender Jeeps bearing registration numbers WPKX-2439, WPKX-2352, WPKX- 2440, WPKX- 2415 and WPKX- 2454, news reports and information in the pubic domain revealed.
