SLR yet to obtain Rs 9.78 M from Pvt Co

Sri Lanka Railways (SLR) is yet to obtain a sum of Rs 9.78 million from a private firm, on a contract granted to them to renovate railway carriages and attach them to trains, to offer a luxury service to tourists, Deputy Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Ashoka Abeysinghe said in Parliament yesterday (20).
The Deputy Minister made this revelation, responding to an oral question raised by UNP Parliamentarian Lucky Jayawardana.

Jayawardana queried as to whether all the payments due from the private institution, to which those carriages were given by the SLR had been obtained.
Replying to Jayawardena, Deputy Minister Abeysinghe said that sum of Rs 9.78 million has to be obtained from a private firm called ‘JF Tours and Travels.’
Abeysinghe: “The JF Tours and Travels agreement with the SLR expires in 2021. Therefore, the SLR has decided to obtain the due amount in four instalments per year. An instalment would be Rs 500,000 minimum. We have to get the approval from the Treasury Secretary for this proposal and after that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) should be signed with the company. We will obtain the due amount in full before the agreement expires.”
The Deputy Minister said that it was not a loss to the SLR but an additional income. These are used carriages and the Department gets an additional income by giving them to private firms, he said. (MD)