The Hon. (Prof.) Anil Jayantha - Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Economic Development

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, with your leave, one minute to clarify the “323 containers” issue. Since morning, social media has tried to create a false public impression. Yes, 323 containers were released. After trade union statements, we met them under the President’s leadership. We assured that if there is any concern, an investigation will be conducted, and asked unions to allow proper clearance operations to continue. We resolved the matter.

¶ 02 Note: congestion in Customs has long required committee-based clearance. Prior Cabinets approved processes where, to ease bottlenecks, containers with “red” or “amber” tags may be managed through special procedures; in some earlier instances, red-tagged consignment handling was adjusted, and historically, some consignments have passed via Green Channel as well. For example, on 25.07.2024, 584 containers were released under such procedures. We will table the Customs report with details. For these 323, records indicate they were not simple Green Channel releases but were processed to reduce congestion under established procedures, with duties levied. We are nonetheless conducting an inquiry. Misleading the public is inappropriate.