The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, customs duties collected on containers do not form part of port revenue. It is unfortunate that ports and customs get conflated in this way—this may not be the Member’s fault. The Port is one entity; Customs is another. Customs operates within the Port. When we say the Port’s revenue is LKR 99 billion, it does not include customs duty collected on containers. Port revenue consists of handling charges, etc.

¶ 02 Recently we submitted a proposal to the Cabinet to update various port service tariffs. Since 2022, those tariffs had not been revised. We have proposed to increase those tariffs. That is what I can state. Customs and Ports are two separate entities.

¶ 03 Secondly, no container is released under the influence of anyone—the President, a Minister, or a Chairman. Historically such things may have happened. But not a single container has been released under such influence. No one has the power to do so. As for the matter of 323 containers now under public discussion, we too have taken it very seriously. The Criminal Investigation Department has commenced investigations. I believe the truth will emerge from those investigations. It is good that answers are obtained through that process. That is all I have to say regarding the 323 containers. We have not released anything based on our knowledge, nor do we do so, nor will we allow it.

¶ 04 We have also commenced investigations into large-scale corruption at the Port and matters relating to those involved. That is my response on that.