Swept under the rug?

by Chrishanthi Christopher-Thursday, 03 Oct 2013

The Department of Excise has expressed disappointment over the manner the Sri Lanka Customs (SLC) has been dragging its feet with regard to the investigations into the discovery of the ethanol that had been surreptitiously imported into the country in two containers, as far as six months ago. Senior officers of the Excise Department are wondering if the officers of the Customs Department are under political pressure to desist from pursuing the matter, in view of the inordinate delay in concluding the investigations that had been underway since the matter came to light in this regard.

Speaking to Ceylon Today, officers of the Excise Department said, they will insist on the officers of Sri Lanka Customs taking the necessary steps to conduct the investigation into the discovery of the unauthorized consignment of ethanol, which they had seized last March, as it is now over six months since the detection.

A senior officer said, investigations into the consignment of ethanol that was seized, which had commenced six months ago, had not made any progress. "The Customs officers keep saying the investigations will be over in one or two months, each time we ask them to tell us about the progress in this regard," he charged.

Last March, 62,000 litres of ethanol was seized by the Excise Department, consequent to the announcement through Gazette notification No. 1799/55, banning the import of ethanol into the country.

It is learnt that the containers are still lying at the SLC Grayline Container Yard. "The two containers are lying in the yard with both sides sealed," the officer further said.

The consignment,which was seized by the Excise Department is being held under the custody of the Intelligence Unit (IU) of Sri Lanka Customs.

On being questioned, the Head of the IU of SLC, M. Dayabaran, said the investigations are ongoing, and no decision has been taken so far with regard to the incident.