The Misuse of Tender Procedure to obtain the required Result!

 EPD

(Education Publications Department)

EPD has been  instructed that they MUST print these two belowsaid books for the 2017 Academic year on this specialized (plasticised long lasting) paper. These instructions have come supposedly from above meaning from the Cabinet and they are NOT to question its rights or wrongs, the staff have just got to follow orders to the letter and not to question the stupidity of the decisions that smack of gross violations!

The Tender was called for on 21^st November for a closing date of 30^th November, which in itself is BIZARRE TO SAY THE LEAST, as except for the belowsaid two Printers, no one else can supply a tender, as the Machines worth Rs600M have to be ordered, and even more so the paper has to be ordered which will take months to come from Japan, or Malaysia which have this quality, which then has to be approved by a testing laboratory, as being consistent with the tender, in case it is NOT of the specified quality.

It is NOT possible for the Tender awarding body to give a tender to just two who apply, as that clearly smacks of manipulation, and so all the Printers of EPD were asked to submit a tender. They have to pay Rs20,000 in the first place to get the right to tender for a book they know they cannot print, for which they have NO MACHINES, NO PAPER, NO INK, and NO GUM. Straightaway this RAT will make the Media and cause a stink that no one will want to be near to! So it is imperative that this tender is cancelled and reverted to the original awardee to print before School Term begins on January 2^nd 2017.

One book  is only an 80 page Geography book that does NOT require perfect binding due to size and can be stapled in the middle, but the tender requires perfect binding, which will further increase the cost!

What is the required result? To give a contract to two specified Printers, to print TWO School Books for the 2017 Academic Year, worth Rs100M each to print a quantity of books, using a special plasticized UV coated paper.

Only two printers in Sri Lanka as of 1^st December 2016, have the machines capable of printing with this highly specialized paper. They are Softwave and Printcare. They use this paper for specialized printing needs for durable/washable paper for the textile and related industries.

If the normal paper is used, as is done on ALL books at present, then this job can be done for LESS THAN Rs 10M each. NAPCO a printer owned by Thilanga Sumathipala got the initial tender (as lowest bidder) to print these books with the regular paper, but were later told they will NOT be awarded this as the Cabinet has chosen to award it in a different tender with the use of durable paper, so the books will last in excess of 5 years as the paper is durable.

The Cabinet MUST be aware that Thilanga Sumithipala is likely to blow the whistle on this against the UNP colleagues involved in the scam, if this tender is NOT awarded rightly to NAPCO, and it is advisable to IMMEDIATELY instruct the Commissioner General of the Education Publication Department to drop this Instruction and revert to the original plan.

This was supposed to be a pilot project to test if the books in fact last 5 years, but as the cost is more than 500% of the tender for normal paper and therefore NO amendments to the book can be made for at least 5 years, for revisions or corrections, it is NOT an economically justifiable project to undertake. It is important to further understand that the supply of tabs to all students could be done in less time than that, which does away with printing in the first place.

It is also worthy of note that a different Govt. could take a different stand on this printing effort, negating any benefits, that the pilot project expects to achieve to test out.

Accordingly this whole pilot project which is NOT in keeping with proper tender procedures, smacks of some collusion, and Softwave and Printcare could be accused of underhand dealing to get this contract outside of tender procedures, and if we look into backgrounds of the INK and Paper suppliers, there may be more culpability of interested parties, that puts the CBSL Bond Scam in the pale in comparison, leading to a possible fall of the Government.

It is regrettable that the Jokers in the Cabinet get used to approving something out side of their remit of understanding, who through collective responsibility, can be held accountable for fraud caused in collusion with other parties.

These are examples of crooked deals, policy inconsistencies, overriding Good Governance Tender procedures, the people being taken for a ride, all to line a few people’s pockets.

If we as citizens of Sri Lanka don’t stand up for what is right! We are left to ponder why the people who we have sadly elected to HIGH OFFICE have completely fooled us. They ONLY achieve their personal objectives in life, WHICH IS TO ENRICH THEMSELVES at the expense of the General Public from whom they are actually stealing, as the TAXPAYER of Sri Lanka continues to pay for these mistakes, daylight robbery, and poor decision making, completely oblivious to what is going on under their own noses.

It is time to do the ONLY thing that will ensure that the people will NOT be robbed by lifetime politicians, and that is TO ONLY HAVE ONE TERM in office for any elected office throughout their life. What a relief would that make? NO MORE LIFERS WHO DIE IN OFFICE! 

The perfect storm is rolling on and on, more like a storm in a tea cup, with no real news, just manufactured!

Isn’t it interesting that the Media, in order to create news out of nothing has resorted to inform the curious public (made only curious because of the media manufacture of news) of every detail of comings and goings of almost every human being to and from Trump Tower, then his Bedminster Golf Course in New Jersey and now the pack of hounds have moved to Palm Beach to his Mar-a-lago compound, almost like an excuse for a jolly good time! After all the Thanksgiving Weekend starts today, and what better way to celebrate the Trump win than have the whole extended family on vacation in sunny Florida, except for the intrusion of drones, secret service agents, paparazzi to spoil the show, but as an excuse to report on every person who comes and goes.

Surely it should be time out for at least a week for the lesser mortals like us to take breather from the Media frenzy, that is created to make news, sensationalize, get audience get ratings, and finally to make money out of the whole deal, all the while confronting the bellicose Trump, who has been unable to wean himself out of the TWEETING that has been a hallmark of his campaign and threatens to make light of his unpredictable stances on issues of the day, especially those he espoused during the campaign which need correction now that he is President elect.

The trouble is the plea to leave Trump news out of a week will not work as the answer is NOT to watch TV news, if you are fed up. I believe the last few days of the Obama Administration must be put on center stage, to record the closing chapters of his final days in office, lest we forget. We have four more years of photo ops and media frenzy contend with which after that time, I am sure people will be so fed up, of his tweets, the media pontification thereof and the following of every member of his family for no good reason, but that people like to know, being the real deal alternative to a Royal Family that the US does not have, but which Trump provides all the glamour and glitz to make up for!

I have now decided to switch off from watching the same old speculation of pundits who are trying to second guess every member of his administration and then comment on why that person is NOT suitable for the job, without many opining on the suitability of the candidate, which is the more positive statement, especially if they are finally to get the job, without the press baggage like a noose around their necks from day one as damaged goods, without giving them a chance to show their true mettle and suitability for the task they have been set.

By the way there are two more Trump National Golf Courses just in the State of New Jersey, at Colts Neck and Pine Hill, just for good measure~ 

Unprecedented to be hauled into your home to be lectured to~ WINNERS SPOILS

Trumps method of transitioning!

As if to throw chili into their eyes for their inaccurate reporting, Trump had summoned a gaggle of Media to Trump Tower, don’t know if it was to his office conference room, or the one in his private apartments, but effective @ his space, with his personal staff, wife, daughter and son-in-law at hand, and being blasted like pick pockets, is in itself a made for TV movie.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/business/media/trump-summons-tv-figures-for-private-meeting-and-lets-them-have-it.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=b-lede-package-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3958098/Trump-s-TV-summit-President-elect-summons-network-executives-anchors-dishonest-media-Trump-Tower.html

As it was off the record, all reports are based on strict confidentiality of names, and I would have loved to be a fly on the wall, as Trump a businessman knowing the value of Media even though they may have gone against him, which ironically lead to him being elected had the audacity, emboldened by being President-elect to read the riot act in a Country with First Amendment Rights, guaranteeing free speech and free media NOT constrained by any strictures!

It is clear this gruff approach to you “to tell my story the way I want it”, rather than how you see it, which is very different to what it really is, leaves the Media moguls wondering how best to play this game.

They want to have access to the President, so they have a story from which they make money (the media in the US is there to profit, and not be merely a mouthpiece of a mogul willing to throw money down the drain) and be able to give the LIBERAL SLANT that is their want, as most media today, representing the middle ground of decency and fair play, with equal rights for all, where as to Trump some are more equal than others! Namely the rich, the racist, the right wing, and red necks who form the base of his support, even though he may not represent them fully in their views!!

We are treading new ground in this experiment as we have never had a President who is so well known in business, rich, and can command personal space, that rivals the White House, as he has SO MANY places that he can summon them to and harangue and intimidate these titans of bombasticity!

We ain’t seen nothing yet in his relationship with the media, but I believe the media will not complain as they have more than enough opportunity to make more money by the resulting viewership than they would have under a Hilary C Administration of more BOREDOM! What we the General Public must realize is that we should NOT be manipulated by these media hacks who create news from nothing, like the unending speculation about the pros and cons of Melania staying at Trump Tower to take Baron to school! 

What a waste of our time!

Of course the speculation of how Trump is going to avoid being labeled as benefiting from his position as President to increase his business empire, will have pundits in the media flogging this horse for all the time slots there are when there is NO OTHER MORE INTERESTING NEWS TO REPORT ON.

Is that going to be the filler story of the media for the next 4 years and speculation if he will be impeached for breaching the rules, law or call it what you will? May God help us to prevent being dragged by the media in their own self created  sinkhole of CRAP!

It all boils down to who you hate more! AMERICA DECIDES

Establishment and much of the same in “Stronger Together” which is Hilary’s and “Lets Make America Great Again” is Donald’s. What resonates with disenfranchised as in CHEESED off voters? Surely it is Donald’s as the people of the US, the great majority of them, just don’t feel good about themselves, or their Country, and no matter how you measure them, they are for the most part, those who have rarely voted, feel the odds are stacked against them, and have NO person who listens or represents them. 

Finally and IRONICALLY they have found in their search a SOUL MATE called Donald Trump, and they are willing to go out and VOTE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR LIVES for a man they know is full of faults, shoots his mouth off, and will shoot his gun off if he had it in his holster, and they like that earthy man, no matter how he cheated the world to make it to the TOP.

Its all about first time older voters stupid, and that is good for democracy. At least they can say they voted. 

He took advantage of every tax break imaginable available to him, used bankruptcy to his advantage, and took self promotion to another level, to become famous. Why he took the Reality TV Show apprentice to sky high ratings was beyond me, but he did the unthinkable. Most Billionaires want to stay under the Radar, and the guts he had NOT to disclose his tax returns, DO NOT EVEN SEEM TO HAVE AFFECTED HIS POLL NUMBERS ADVERSELY which has confounded the opposition as they soon dropped that line, when they know it had NO traction.

The Americans Go to the Polls today to vote for the person they hate the least. When someone 4 years from now at the next Election reads this blog entry, will only be able to verify, that it was a remarkable time on 8^th November 2016, never before and never again, and that America is Great again because of this election, and because of the bottom of the barrel their politics took them to realize what was needed to “make this Country Great Again!”

No one has actually predicted the post election psyche of the people. It will be relief, cold turkey that they don’t see that mop of hair and Hilary’s tiresome voice. For what it is worth, whatever comes out of Donald’s mouth is crazy or worth laughing about. Hilary’s pronouncements don’t present a wry smile or a cheer either! Why? BORING. 

I would have not called her crooked Hilary, I would just have said too boring to be President. Boring people may be rocks and stable, but nothing will come out of their term, positive or negative. We have lived long enough to know that we need some catalyst for change, and that is the ONLY way to energize people to action, and that sadly can only come from TRUMP!

In Reply to WA Wijewardena saying EPF should be investigated in line with COPE

Without a shred of evidence he is now set his attack on to beleaguered and thoroughly incompetent management of EPF without actually making a sensible suggestion of how they should improve their performance.

http://www.ft.lk/article/578511/EPF-should-be-investigated--promptly-as-recommended-by-COPE

WA has no case. He is one sided not knowing the truth, as he just surmises.

In order to create liquidity, you have to have PDs buying at a price, and they have available bonds to sell at the secondary market. EPF can choose NOT to buy or buy at the price that Perpetual Set. How can it be there was something untoward?

If the EPF just sits on the daily cash they get they DO NOT get any interest. This is a man with a Island mentality that has a problem! The fact that Perpetual sold to EPF at a profit, don’t lay the blame at Perpetual. They have the bonds, EPF needs to buy. Being the largest PD there is NO ONE else they can go to.

WA simply is dreaming as his case is with NO merit. As EPF though not a PD is allowed to bid at the auctions, why did they not bid in the first place? Ask EPF management, it is their problem, can’t you see it?

EPF has to be managed by professional fund managers, who are paid handsomely for their effort. Otherwise there is NO incentive to make a good return for the members, the GENERAL PUBLIC OF SRI LANKA.

It is best to concentrate your energies on that point, and get rid of the amateurs who manage these funds. In any other Country with Funds such as these, over US$10Billion, your asset manager must be paid at least US$10M to manage this, and if you did, the fund would have gone up by at least twice in the past 15 years.

So the loser is the PUBLIC. Just think about it, stop chasing mirages and get to the real problem of jokers of your puerile ilk, managing the people’s funds. We have to look at the big picture and it is NOT NICE. We need professionals. Retired bankers are just that,  old lifers who don’t have a life so they rant on about a piffly point, forgetting the larger and more serious point of TOTAL MISMANAGEMENT of our people’s pension funds.

EPF current management and the CBSL MUST be blamed during WA’s time for most of it, should NOT be in the business of managing a huge portfolio, and also issuing bonds.

Sadly the writer, WA Wijewardena, should offer a solution of how the people’s pension fund is managed better for better returns in the long run. Otherwise his whole waste of pontification is merely for his own egotistical ha-rang of sour grapes.

Of course an incentive based on a running average rate of return over a 5 year period where they get say 25% of increase above say a 12% return, would have shown stellar returns for the public. Just hire the Perpetual Dealer to do that, and you will eat your words, when the EPF value goes up by 20% next year. The trouble is you cannot stomach his paycheck of Rs 50B, even though he makes 250B (after his fees) for the EPF.

Just think of the scandal that will cause! That is the ISLAND mentality we are stuck in today. This is the way pension funds are managed in any other Country, just not here! WHY?

Yes they divide it amongst about 5 or 10 wealth managers, but we only have ONE here at present, who can do the job, and you are attacking him for all he’s got.

Shame on you.

In the days before auctions, the EPF was forced by the previous administration to buy Bonds at low interest rates. That effectively means, that the Private Sector workers savings were being robbed by the Govt. as they were forced to earn a lower return.

Now the savings are earning a higher market determined rate of interest, and if you follow me, I am suggesting a method, by which they earn an even higher rate of return, if managed by REAL PROFESSIONAL managers and NOT Cowboys as at present.

The hardworking people of the Private Sector of Sri Lanka which is the only engine of growth in this economy, deserve better, and should be able to take out more than they do at present. We have lost the wood from the trees. Let us concentrate ON THAT simple premise and work towards achieving this simple goal. All the writings such as this are then superfluous to that aim.

We owe it to this sector of worker to be able to live well in retirement, considering the overtime, long years, stress and sacrifice they have made with their lives.

The Public Sector on the other hand (including all present and former CBSL employees) continue to leach off the people’s taxes, not adding one red cent even to this argument. The words spoken above are typical of the Public Sector mentality and is time we took account of the fact when we determine who is worth listening to and emulating for the Good of the Country.

The unfunded pension payments of the Public Sector, is something no one is talking about. It is time it comes to the fore in public discourse. It runs into trillions and there is NO investment fund for that, they will be merely paying it out of the taxes of the working people at that time, of which there will probably be less than today, with the population charts showing a fall in young people of working age as when compared with the retired.

This goes to the inevitable conclusion we MUST face, that we have to increase retirement age as soon as possible, as we are facing a huge labor shortage, and it is NOT inconceivable to raise retirement age from 55 to 75, by which time we may still have to pay pensions for the huge female labor force in the Public Sector who will likely live to a 100 but not have to do this for the male population who may kick the bucket earlier.

I am mentioning this aspect to focus the mind on the future. We have to face reality, as most of the people living in Sri Lanka are living a day dreamers’ existence, and not surprising because we have people like WA Wijewardena, spouting out mischievous lies, that he expects people to believe in order to hold him in high esteem.

It is time we called his bluff, and consign him to luxurious retirement on his fat pension. We have more important things to do rather than be bogged down by such infantile pronouncements. The GOVT owes it to the people to explain clearly the problems at hand, even though they may be unpalatable, and not get bogged down in scandals of their own making, due to their incompetent management of the people they hire and NOT give them a clear direction in what is expected of them.

I am confident that at some point shortly, people will realize it is more important to face the facts, and not be distracted by people who profess knowledge, that is harmful, and wasteful, to say nothing of the level of treachery involved in their statements. In the end all will be fine, let us hope it is sooner rather than later.

Down to the wire – Neck and Neck and no one dare declare till it is all over!

The US Presidential Election has provided real theatre to the media pundits waiting in the wings to pontificate on the various scenarios still possible, with NO ONE calling it for either candidate on this eve of Election Day tomorrow.

I don’t think we will EVER live to see another election as tight, as divisive and as contrasting in styles ever in anyone’s lifetime, and in less than 48 hours there will be a new President Designate to govern the US for he next 4 years! The reason it is of importance to all of us so far away, is because what they decide and how they rule affect our lives. To put is simply, US interest rate policy, affects the interest rates we eventually pay on our public debt, and has a direct impact on our deficit and not only monetary policy, but fiscal policy as they are both interrelated.

We cannot therefore get away from the fact that there are candidates of mediocre capability, playing politics with our lives. Few really trust either candidate, and have constantly been referred to as two worst candidates who have been nominated by the two main parties in US History.

Needless to say that NO policies have been discussed, and it has all been about PERSONALITY alone.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-election-aside-heres-the-real-national-embarrassment/2016/11/06/3

The link above clearly implies that neither candidate has been able to address the national problems in the US that are staring them in the face. This means that whoever wins, they will again continue to ignore them, as frankly few politicians wish to address the real issues of any Country, as either people are UNWILLING to accept a painful solution to it, that is imposed as the opposition will take a populist and opposing view, sinking a good plan even before it starts!

I am mentioning this in my blog here, because we in Sri Lanka also do not wish to face the reality. We have a overburdened public service that has saddled the Govt. We MUST shed at least 500,000 staff from the Public Service from adding to inefficiency and instead put them into the Private Sector which is crying out for more employees to grow their businesses. 

This alone together can add to the Growth, BUT NO ONE has the guts to say so. People are so drunk on working for a Govt. dept, that they do as little as possible and hope to live out their working life! So all politicians lie to their constituencies to keep up their popularity, and it is part of the problem of democracy. Ironically though the US is NO different to Sri Lanka in that respect of completely taking the electorate for a ride.    

Whoever wins you can be sure that the honey moon will only last a few months, perhaps not even till the State of the Union. As the Middle East will be in turmoil, and they will both be blaming each other, even though neither has even got to the first day at work on the job! That is how ludicrous the allegations will be.

Lest we forget Donald Trump’s Scottish Roots in the land of immigrants!

In this eve of the US Presidential Elections, concentrating on the abrasive character of Donald Trump it is useful to know that he also came from IMPOVERISHED STOCK http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/02/politics/donald-trump-ancestry-scotland/index.html

His mother who was the youngest of a family of 10 went to the US in 1930 from the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland at the age of 17 to be a MAID. She gave birth to the DONALD in 1946, sixteen years later. She went on to live till 2000 to see her son get to the top in his real estate business, a far cry from the abject poverty she grew up in.

 So what if an underage maid from Sri Lanka goes to say Italy, and then her son becomes the PM there, that would be wonderful wouldn’t it? However she could never be the mother of a President of Sri Lanka, due to the various prejudices that people in Sri Lanka carry with them, make it extremely difficult for one born into poverty to make it to the top.

It is also important to know that his father’s ancestors came from Germany. Nevertheless his immigrant roots are clear and it is NOT ironic that he wishes to stifle immigration, because many people who have actually made it big in the US, feel they have had to go up the hard way, and today’s immigrants are only coming not out of poverty, but to compete for jobs and take jobs away from local people. Back then it was the labor shortage that encouraged them to come to the US from a very sick and poor Europe that could not employ their people.

America was DESPERATE for labor to run their industries, and even as in this case to work as housemaids. If today’s circumstances are also considered, Sri Lanka is desperate for people to do the work locals refuse to do. We will not only have to import construction labor from India to fill the vacancies, but even maids from wherever they can come due to the shortage of over 50,000 maids just in Colombo to say nothing of the other domestic labor, and factory labor etc.

Isn’t it ironic that there are millions of people in refugee camps in the Middle East in countries such as Lebanon and Jordan, and we will not permit anyone here to take the jobs that we have, and instead send workers to Jordan and Lebanon. There is some human mismatch when that occurs, presumably the Jordanian refugees are NOT allowed to work in Jordan, or are so well looked after by the refugee agencies that they don’t want to do the jobs our people go for! All quite confusing!