The Hon. (Prof.) Ruwan Ranasinghe
The Minister acknowledged concerns about liquor licensing in tourist zones, noting that the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority only recommends licences to the Excise Department. He said illegal alcohol sales by unlicensed operators are causing losses in government fees and taxes, and stated that discussions with the Minister of Finance aim to ensure proper collection of fees and taxes before licences are issued.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, there is merit in what the Hon. Member says. The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority only recommends to the Excise Department to issue necessary liquor licences. However, as he notes, a situation has arisen.
¶ 02 There are operators who legally trade in alcohol with government licences. But there are also many within these tourist zones who sell alcohol illegally without proper licences. As a result, the government loses significant fees and taxes. We have discussed this with the Hon. Minister of Finance and will, going forward, ensure proper fees and taxes are collected from businesses in these tourist zones before issuing licences.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Thursday, 9 April 2026 ·No. 23475 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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/lk/speeches/28533
Cite as: The Hon. (Prof.) Ruwan Ranasinghe. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 9 April 2026. No. 23475. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/28533