YOHAN PERERA  Courtesy Daily Mirror

Colombo, June 2 (Daily Mirror) – Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekera alleged that the government suffered a loss exceeding Rs. 200 million from the recent sale of vehicles belonging to the North Central Provincial Council (NCP).

Speaking to the media, MP Jayasekera said that the government earned only Rs. 28 million from the sale of 12 vehicles, which included a BMW and several Toyota Prado SUVs.

A BMW alone is valued at Rs. 35 million, while a Prado is worth Rs. 20.5 million on the market. The total value of the fleet could have been around Rs. 310 million if sold at market prices. However, the actual proceeds amounted to just Rs. 28 million,” he said.

Jayasekera attributed the significant shortfall to the government’s decision to base the sale prices on depreciated book values, rather than factoring in insurance valuations and import duties, which he argued would more accurately reflect current market values.

The core issue is that the government treated the depreciated value as the actual value. In reality, they should have calculated the price based on the insurance value and added the applicable vehicle duties. Had this approach been followed, the revenue could have reached Rs. 310 million,” he said.

The MP warned that similar financial losses could occur if the current pricing method continues to be applied when disposing of vehicles from other state institutions.

Furthermore, Jayasekera pointed out a procedural inconsistency, noting that while authorities previously stated that excess government vehicles would be disposed of via auctions, these vehicles were in fact sold through a tender process.