Premajayantha explained that the complaints have been made following the distribution of an emergency supply of 20,000 metric tons of fuel imported by the CPC when the regular fuel supplier had informed during Poson Poya last month that the shipment would be delayed by five days.
"When the emergency supplies were distributed to the fuel stations, the amount of fuel has been very low in the tanks and the new load of fuel pumped to the tanks at the stations had got mixed with sludge and other material at the bottom of the tank," the Minister said.
Therefore, he observed that vehicles that were pumped with the fuel had experienced difficulty.
"There was no issue over the quality of the fuel that was imported. The problem was that the fuel had got mixed with sludge in the tanks at the fuel stations," he said.
However, the Minister said that the CPC has received the normal fuel supplies that have been distributed and the issue of substandard fuel has been addressed.
When asked as to how the CPC paid for the 20,000 metric tons of emergency fuel supplies, Premajayantha said that the country usually receives a six month credit period and the emergency supplies were also purchased under the same conditions.
"The Cabinet Appointed Tender Board (CATB) had the mandate to authorize such emergency purchases," he said.
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