The Hon. Mujibur Rahman
Hon. Mujibur Rahman, speaking during the Companies (Amendment) Bill debate, raised concerns over the halted release of imported vehicles at Hambantota Port. He said around 600–700 vehicles have been held by Customs since 27 May 2025 over a “cross-border” issue, despite importers claiming the practice has operated since 2013 and imports were permitted under Gazette No. 2428/07. He asked why the Government has not resolved the matter or made a decision, noting that dollar payments have already been made and only Customs duty and release remain.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Madam Presiding Member, thank you for the opportunity to speak on the Companies (Amendment) Bill. Alongside this, I wish to raise a related matter.
¶ 02 On 27 May 2025, the government halted the release of about 500–600 imported vehicles now at Hambantota Port, citing a cross-border issue. Vehicle importers say this process has been in place since 2013. After imports were halted, Customs—under Gazette No. 2428/07 of 13 March—again permitted imports and releases. But on 27 May, releases were again stopped due to a “cross-border” matter. This is a well-established practice—brand-new agents also import under cross-border LCs and are allowed to export out. The problem arises when taking used vehicles out. Importers say they met the government several times but received no answer. All payments in dollars are already made; only Customs duty and release remain. About 600–700 vehicles are held by Sri Lanka Customs without release. Why is the government not resolving this? Why no decision?
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Wednesday, 23 July 2025 ·No. 1754386160089643 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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- not yet extracted — page/column anchors are not in the current dataset; the source PDF is the citable location.
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/lk/speeches/4225
Cite as: The Hon. Mujibur Rahman. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 23 July 2025. No. 1754386160089643. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/4225