By: Staff Writer
September 11, Colombo (LNW): A Rs.173.86 million consultancy awarded for Sri Lanka’s ADB-funded tourism development programme has come under renewed scrutiny following questions raised by technology entrepreneur and computer scientist Sanjiva Weerawarna about one of the companies involved in the selected consortium.
The Cabinet approved the award to Resources Development Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, in association with Novel Interdisciplinary Consulting Enterprise (Pvt) Ltd, for the Sustainable Tourism Sector Development Programme. The US$30 million ADB-funded programme covers tourism-related infrastructure and facilities in the Dambulla-Sigiriya and Trincomalee areas.
Weerawarna publicly questioned aspects of the consultancy arrangement and called for the circumstances surrounding the selection to be examined. Importantly, his comments did not establish that the procurement process was unlawful. They nevertheless raise questions that deserve an official response, particularly concerning the capacity and eligibility of the selected firms.
Weerawarna focused attention on NICE and referred to what he identified as the company’s website. He questioned the website’s registration date, content and functionality, while also pointing to information relating to projects, clients and management displayed online.
Such observations, by themselves, do not prove that a company lacks the technical qualifications required for a major consultancy. Nor does the apparent age or quality of a website establish whether an organisation possesses genuine professional capacity.
However, for a Rs.173.86 million consultancy involving archaeological sites, tourism infrastructure, urban planning and destination development, the Government should be able to demonstrate that every member of the winning consortium satisfied the prescribed eligibility and technical requirements.
This becomes especially important because the project requires expertise extending beyond conventional construction or tourism promotion. Dambulla and Sigiriya contain globally significant archaeological and cultural assets, while Trincomalee carries substantial historical, environmental and coastal significance.
The procurement process reportedly attracted 15 expressions of interest, with six firms invited to submit proposals and five ultimately evaluated. The Consultancy Procurement Committee subsequently recommended the consortium.
The critical question is therefore not merely whether the consortium submitted a successful proposal. It is whether the evaluation rigorously verified the experience, personnel, previous assignments, financial capacity and specialised qualifications claimed by each participating company.
The Government should publish, subject to legitimate commercial confidentiality, the eligibility criteria and scoring methodology used to evaluate the proposals. It should also clarify how the experience of the two consortium members was assessed collectively and individually.
This scrutiny is particularly justified because the consultancy is financed through an ADB loan rather than purely through a grant. The expenditure therefore forms part of a development investment ultimately carrying financial obligations for Sri Lanka.
There is also a broader institutional issue. If private consultants are selected for major archaeological-tourism projects, government agencies with decades of relevant experience should not merely become passive recipients of externally prepared plans.
The Department of Archaeology, tourism authorities and government planning and engineering agencies should have clearly defined roles in protecting national heritage and ensuring that outside consultants deliver genuine additional expertise.
The Government now has an opportunity to eliminate doubts through disclosure rather than silence.
The central test should be simple: was Rs.173.86 million awarded because the selected consortium demonstrably possessed exceptional expertise—or because the procurement system merely found an eligible bidder?
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