The Customs has launched an investigation into the validity and the use of the vehicle import licences issued by the Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment for the benefit of migrant workers.
This investigation was launched following a number of vehicles allegedly illegally imported using the aforementioned vehicle licences being seized by the Customs last week.
When contacted by The Daily Morning yesterday (25), Customs Spokesperson Seevali Arukgoda said that while those vehicles were allegedly imported misusing the vehicle import licences issued by the Labour and Foreign Employment Ministry in order to encourage the migrant workers to transfer their remittances through legal ways, it is yet to be found as to whether any shortcomings have taken place when issuing these licences. He also said that while the Customs believes that certain parties have intentionally misused these licences by making forged documents, no such finding has been revealed so far. He added that they hope to carry on further investigations into the incident and to pay much more attention to all the vehicles imported during the past few weeks in order to find something important in this regard. He added however that he cannot reveal the details of the vehicles seized by the Customs since that information could be important to the investigations.
When he was queried as to whether they have consulted the Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment regarding the procedure of issuing these licences or regarding the people who were given those licences, Arukgoda said that they are yet to consult the Ministry in this regard, but that the investigators will be seeking help from the Ministry too in order to make certain clarifications needed for the investigation.
The State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya recently told the media that it was reported that 119 electric vehicles have been imported by misusing the facility for migrant workers to import electrical vehicles and that those have been imported to Sri Lanka from the date of the relevant permission being granted till 16 October, and that 75 of them have been imported by the same company. He also said that this illicit activity has resulted in an estimated loss of approximately Rs. 35 billion in Government revenue.
Meanwhile, speaking at the launching ceremony of the migration employment blueprint, Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara yesterday said that nothing illegal has happened when issuing licences for electric vehicles to migrant workers as is claimed by various parties including some politicians. “The initiative to provide licences for importing electric vehicles was conducted with full transparency, and it successfully increased the remittance earnings of the country. Licences have been issued only to those who have sent remittances to Sri Lanka through legal channels. This initiative is not exempt from import duties and is in line with a Cabinet of Ministers decision aimed at encouraging Sri Lankans abroad to send remittances through legal channels. All imported vehicles are required to pay the full Customs duty and other taxes levied by the Customs Department, thus contributing to the State revenue,” he said.