The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, thank you. Following Minister Sunil Handunnetti’s remarks, I add:

¶ 02 Today four legal items on vehicles are before us: a regulation under the Excise (Special Provisions) Act, an Order on Luxury Tax, and the Import Duty resolution. I won’t re-explain mechanics covered by Ministers. However, due to cross-border LCs, 8,724 cars are stuck at Hambantota—this is not minor. We need a decisive administrative solution, not leave it to officials alone. Sometimes Cabinet decisions are required rather than pushing everything to court. As with actions taken on salt, the government must decide—whether to release or reverse—rather than passing to officials.

¶ 03 On cross-border LCs: when a son works in Qatar and parents try to send a car via a letter of credit to Japan that doesn’t align with the 2013 Gazette requirements, it becomes an administrative issue at the Import and Export Control Department. This is not necessarily corruption but a process problem. Fix the process so clearance can unlock roughly Rs. 90 billion (Rs. 9,000 crores) in value.

¶ 04 Also, today’s Daily Mirror reports: “Government considers double cab imports for MPs.” Previously it was said 2,000 cars would be imported; at present the government fleet numbers about 76,724, of which roughly 74,000 are operational. For comparison, Australia has about 8,200 and Vietnam about 21,000 for their governments. When the paper carries such headlines, it suggests special provision for MPs again. Clarify: these are for public service institutions, not MPs. Misinformation must be stopped. You are cutting smaller expenses elsewhere; so avoid creating perceptions of waste by talking of large new vehicle procurements.