Sri Lanka, July 31 -- 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...