The Attorney General has informed the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) that the Port City Commission is not empowered to formulate duty-free rules for duty-free malls at the Colombo Port City.

This was revealed at a recent meeting of the COPF.The officials from the Port City Commission, who were present, owned up to the error and assured that the rules would be revoked by the end of this week.

However, the Port City Commission has already entered agreements with four investors based on these rules.

No official stepped forward to take responsibility.Given lack of clarity and accountability, the Committee was of the opinion that the aforesaid regulations had to be revoked forthwith.

The Committee directed the Ministry of Investment Promotion to identify the responsible party and asked them to outline measures to prevent similar errors in the future.

Such action was deemed essential to safeguard against potential discouragement of future investments, the committee said.

Furthermore, the Committee on Public Finance considered Gazette Extraordinary No. 2334/39, as per Section 24 of the Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka Law, No. 4 of 1978.

State Minister (Dr.) Suren Raghavan and Members of Parliament Patali Champika Ranawaka, Chandima Weerakkody, (Dr.) Nalaka Godahewa, Hon. Nimal Lanza, Premnath C. Dolawatte, Madhura Withanage, Mayantha Dissanayake, Rauff Hakeem, M. W. D. Sahan Pradeep, (Dr.) Major Pradeep Undugoda, Isuru Dodangoda were present at the Committee meeting held.