Police deny purchasing substandard breathalyzers

• 14,803 breathalyzer boxes fail quality test

By Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya

In response to reports that Sri Lanka Police had purchased substandard breathalyzers for testing drunk drivers, the Police have clarified that no payments have been made for the 14,803 breathalyzer boxes that failed quality tests.

According to the Police, each box contains 10 breathalyzer tubes.

They said the Police Supply Division has called tenders to purchase 15,000 breathalyzers and a private company selected to supply the tubes.

The company initially delivered 197 boxes, each containing 10 tubes, as the first shipment imported from France.

After samples from this stock were sent to government analysts, they were found to meet quality standards, and the stock was subsequently released to the Traffic Headquarters.

As its second stock, 14,803 boxes containing 10 breathalyzers each have been supplied and samples from the second batch were sent to government analysts for quality testing, but the analysts deemed the breathalyzers unsuitable for use.

Following this recommendation, the Police notified the supplier and sent further samples for re-evaluation. Once again, the quality committee advised against using the breathalyzers.
The supplier has since appealed, requesting a discussion with government analysts to clarify the issue.

The Director of the Police Supply Division said that payment has only been made for the first 1,970 breathalyzer tubes, and no payment has been made for the second batch of 14,803 boxes.

Police said the second batch has not been counted in bulk or issued for use.