Unions push for DG’s removal, oppose IMF-led anti-corruption plan

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Sri Lanka Customs had cleared thousands of containers, sans examinations, since early last year, though the issue came to light recently as a result of the continuing campaign by unions against the top management, sources familiar with the issue told The Island.

Thee Customs began clearing containers that were marked for examination during President Ranil Wickremesinghe tenure to overcome congestion at the Colombo Port.

The Customs had adopted the controversial strategy early last year to ease congestion, sources said. Clearing of containers had been carried out intermittently during this period, including the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary elections in September and November, respectively.

Stricter internal controls have led to a sharp increase in revenue, with a record collection of over Rs 1 trillion in 2024, compared to the previous year’s Rs 975 bn, sources said.

At one point, amidst the further deterioration of relations between the top management and the unions, the latter had asked the government to remove the Director General of Customs, Sarath Nonis, who received the top post in late July 2022, at the beginning of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s presidency. However, the government hadn’t succumbed to pressure in spite of their own pushing for the changes at the top.

Customs unions, affiliated to the JVP, spearheaded the campaign meant to undermine efforts taken by the top management to enhance revenue as they felt the IMF-led programme hindered their agenda, sources said. For want of a comprehensive coverage of the developments taking place, interested parties influenced the reportage of congestion at the Colombo Port, conveniently not identifying who caused the crisis.

Following the activation of the investigation process that allowed the public to lodge complaints with a special unit, the internal inquiry resulted in the interdiction of four Customs officers.

Both President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation Minister Bimal Rathnayake have been briefed on the developing situation, sources said, alleging that the relevant House committee should inquire into the circumstances where thousands of containers had been released without examination.

Sources stressed that the containers released over the past several months were those categorised for examination. The containers so categorised had been approximately 40% of the total containers cleared, sources said, disclosing as much as 60% of containers were exempted from examination.

The containers categorized ‘red’ were meant to be physically checked and the main Opposition has asked whether the NPP government interfered in the selection of the released containers.

During 2020 the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has assured funding for the establishment of a container yard at Kerawalapitiya. However, the government failed to implement the plan in 2022, thereby paving the way for the present crisis, sources said, appreciating the decision taken by the incumbent government to reactivate the Kerawalapitiya plan.

Sources said that the failure on the part of the government to resolve issues at the Colombo harbour could have catastrophic results. Over the years, successive governments lacked the courage to rein in unions affiliated to various political parties, sources said.