31 Jul 2026 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
As Sri Lanka moves ahead with the Central Expressway Project (CEP 4) and the Ruwanpura Expressway, a senior engineer involved in the project has questioned why the Road Development Authority (RDA), the Ministry of Transport and Highways, and the National Procurement Commission have not allowed proper competition to be followed in the tender process.
According to the senior engineer who wished to be anonymous, the issue is not just procedure. It is the possible loss of billions of rupees in public funds due to what appears to be a deeply flawed prequalification system.
The warning signs are already clear in the RDA’s own numbers, he said.
In CEP 3 Section 2, the RDA allowed only six local contractors to qualify for seven contract packages. The result was predictable. With fewer bidders than contracts, competition was effectively eliminated. Each contractor was almost guaranteed a share of the work.
The outcome? Every single bid came in above the Engineer’s estimate — by 16% to 21%. The total cost rose to Rs. 112.56 billion, compared to an estimate of Rs. 94.69 billion. That is an excess of Rs. 17.87 billion that will ultimately be borne by the public.
This is not a marginal deviation. It is a systemic failure.
The Engineer explained that yet, in a striking contrast, the same RDA oversaw CEP 3 Section 1, where the number of bidders exceeded the number of packages. There, bids came in dramatically lower — between 38% and 42% below the Engineer’s Estimate. The government saved nearly Rs. 5.9 billion.
The conclusion is unavoidable. Where competition exists, Sri Lanka saves. Where it is restricted, the country pays more.
So the question must be asked as to why did the RDA design a system that limited competition in Section 2?
According to the senior engineer, Sri Lanka has at least thirteen contractors with CS2 grading under the Construction Industry Development Authority (CIDA), the highest category in highway construction. Yet only six were allowed through. The rest were filtered out through high financial thresholds and technical requirements.
Were these thresholds genuinely necessary? Or were they set in a way that effectively pre-selected a small group of contractors?
The Ministry of Transport and Highways and the National Procurement Commission must answer this, the senior engineer told the Daily Mirror.
More importantly, did any authority question why not a single bid came below the Engineer’s Estimate? In any competitive system, that alone should have triggered alarm. Instead, the process appears to be moving forward without scrutiny.
Sri Lanka’s own experience proves that broader participation works. In CEP 3 Section 1, around fifteen contractors — including mid-tier firms — were allowed to compete. Many had no prior expressway experience. Yet they delivered the project successfully, on time and to standard, the senior engineer explained.
In fact, several of today’s established expressway contractors gained their experience from those very contracts.
Had the current restrictive criteria been applied then, many of them would never have qualified.
So why is the system now closing the door on the next tier of contractors?
“As the RDA prepares to roll out CEP 4 and the Ruwanpura Expressway, there is a real risk that the same flawed model will be repeated, this time involving even larger sums of public money,” the senior engineer alleged.
The engineer further explained that there are practical ways to bring more competition into expressway tenders without lowering the standard of work.
First, allow international contractors who are already operating in Sri Lanka to bid. These companies already understand local rules, labour, materials, and environmental requirements, so their participation would not create extra administrative burden.
Second, open the door to all local contractors holding the highest CIDA grading for highway work, known as CS2, provided they meet the required financial and technical standards.
Restricting the field to only a small group of firms narrows competition and, as evidence shows, tends to push prices up.
Third, encourage joint ventures between Sri Lankan CS2 contractors and experienced international expressway builders. These partnerships combine international technology, project management experience and financial strength with local knowledge, workforce and resources - a model that has worked well in many other countries. The National Procurement Commission has a clear mandate to ensure fairness, transparency and competition. The Ministry has a responsibility to safeguard public funds. And the RDA, as the implementing agency, must ensure that its processes do not undermine these principles.
“The solutions are not complicated. Broaden the prequalification criteria. Allow more CS2 contractors to participate. Encourage joint ventures with foreign firms. Permit specialized subcontracting. And most importantly, ensure that the number of bidders exceeds the number of contracts,” the senior engineer said. At a time when Sri Lanka is under pressure to maintain fiscal discipline, losing Rs. 17.87 billion due to weak competition cannot be justified.
The public deserves answers. And more importantly, it deserves a procurement system that works in its interest, not one that quietly inflates costs.
If the lessons from CEP 3 are ignored, the consequences will not just be financial. They will further erode public trust in how national projects are managed.
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