ONE MILLION LITERS OIL LEAK PER YEAR, COORRUPTION ENGULF PETROLEUM CORPORATION

It is reported that massive amount of petroleum stocks are at lost annually due to lack of maintenance of storage tanks and yards and with corruption. Statistics reveal that the wastage in Kolonnawa terminal alone was 1 million liters in 2008 and a similar amount was lost in 2009 too. According to Petroleum Corporation employees, reasons for these unbelievable losses are that there are no storage tank with floating roofs which prevent evaporation and that faults in garrets which are used to fill oil transport trucks and trains.

In addition, several reports reach us regarding how Petroleum Corporation suffers as a result of corrupted and inefficient management. Rs 980

  million worth SAP computer system which was installed under Enterprise Recourse Planning for data processing and operation units and was ceremoniously opened on 1st of April has failed to fulfill expected targets yet. Use of this automated computer system had to be abandoned following recent huge countrywide shortage of fuel which occurred due to faulty computer operation.

Among the other contributors to the losses are defects and malpractices in fuel distribution. Petroleum Corporation employees point out that massive corruptions occur when hiring tanks for the distribution of fuel through private sector and managing oil tanks. They stressed that most of these dealing are based on private relationships and nepotism. One other major reason for the loss is that though the petroleum distribution has doubled in comparison to year 2000 number of garrets and related filling facilities has not been increased to cope. It is observed that huge amount of fuel is on wastage in Kolonnawa terminal which loads around 100 transport trains a day.

Massive corruption has occurred in the project of renovating 80 filling stations, spending at least Rs 15 million for each. Even if renovation works are over in 30 filling stations, many instances can be highlighted regarding lack of standards in construction. For example the roof fell down in such refurbished Nuwaraeliya filling station just two months after construction and Polonnaruwa filling station gets flooded with rainwater.

Lubricant project has become another white elephant of Petroleum Corporation while much publicized gas project too has come to a standstill by now. One can see the gas filling machine which was imported spending Rs 150 million getting corroded in Sapugaskanda premises. Above reasons are more than enough to judge the extent of corrupt, inefficient management of Petroleum Corporation and we have mentioned only a part of information we have received.

At the end we are left to ask a question from you. Education ministry is the most corrupted institution in Sri Lanka according to the disclosure of new sports minister recently. Next come police while Cricket Board becoming the 3rd most corrupted institution. If that is true the number one in the list, the education ministry was governed by former education minister Susil Premajayantha and presently the Petroleum Corporation is given to himself. In this setting like other state institutions, what will be the fate of Petroleum Corporation tomorrow?