Sri Lanka Visa mess : What’s happening?
Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Kavinda Jayawardena has requested Parliament to address the issue of visa issuance at the Katunayake Airport after video footage was shared on social media by a foreign tourist on the long queues at visa counters.
In the video, the tourist points out the lack of a proper system for visa issuance, the lack of prior information online, the failure of officials at counters to conduct the visa issuance systematically, and the lack of comfortable waiting space at the airport.
Commenting on the video, MP Kavinda Jayawardena said that the visa issuance system was severely hindering Sri Lanka’s progress, which depends highly on the tourism industry.
Stating that foreign tourists are being severely inconvenienced as a result, MP Jayawrdena questioned why the government was not taking any immediate action in this regard.
“This is shameful to our nation. We are dependent on the tourism industry for our foreign exchange. We are charging US$ 50 per tourist. I hope the government can immediately intervene and address this issue,” he said.
Responding to the MP, Chief Government Whip Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said that the government has taken steps to issue visa-free entry to 38 countries with immediate effect.
Addressing the Parliament, Minister Ranatunga said that Cabinet approval was given to the decision yesterday.
He further said that discussions were held at the Cabinet meeting to introduce a more convenient system in place of the on-arrival visa system at the Katunayake Airport, which will be a positive message to tourists visiting the nation.
Long queues and delays have been reported at the Katunayake Airport after the newly introduced visa issuance system at the Katunayake Airport ended in controversy.
The new visa issuance system by global visa processing service, VFS Global and its charges came under the spotlight after a local passenger had raised concerns over the process, with the video of the incident being widely circulated on social media.
A probe launched by the Committee on Public Finance also found that VFS Global had been picked without calling for official bids and had resulted in the Department of Immigration and Emigration losing out on receiving competitive rates for visa issuance.
In July this year, three petitions were filed at the Supreme Court against Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles and the government against the VFS visa procedure.
Meanwhile, taking into consideration the petitions, the Supreme Court has ordered the new system to be suspended and for the old visa issuance system to be implemented.
However, addressing the media last week, the petitioners claimed that the government has not implemented the old system properly resulting in chaos at the Katunayake Airport.
2024-09-03
