Customs begin work to rule after recent allegations
The Sri Lanka Customs Trade Union Alliance says it has not resorted to any trade union action, and instead, has only instructed its members to strictly work to the provisions of the Customs Ordinance.
A representative of the Alliance told the media that though some people are attempting to portray this as a trade union action, it was not such a move.
The Sri Lanka Customs Trade Union Alliance has taken this decision after a group of businessmen had raised various allegations against customs officers recently.
The allegations were raised when Minister of Ports Vijitha Herath had recently visited the port premises to investigate customs clearance work.
At that time, several businessmen alleged that the customs officials were spending too much time checking containers, while some were even accepting bribes.
Responding to the allegations raised by the businessman, the Customs Trade Union Alliance has decided to work only per the provisions of the Customs Ordinance.
“Nearly one thousand eight hundred containers are cleared through the port every day. The Risk Management Unit of Sri Lanka Customs operates through a computer data system.
“We have identified the people who operate according to the law transparently. Therefore, it has been possible to clear about a thousand containers received daily after a simple check like scanning. We have not faced any accusations from those who act according to the law,” the Customs Trade Union Alliance representative said.
He said, however, the Alliance has identified another group of people involved in customs violations.
“We test about five hundred such containers a day. It has been identified that about sixty per cent of the containers that are inspected by customs officers have serious customs violations. There are people who are hurt by these tests. Such people are only making absurd accusations against Customs Officials,” he said.
Stating that it takes some time to formally inspect a container, the Customs Trade Union Alliance representative pointed out that the allegations are being made to disrupt that process.
2024-11-13
