• The equipment had been purchased at a cost of Rs. 2.1 million

By Ajith Siriwardana  
A Parliamentary Committee has revealed that CCTV camera equipment that had been purchased at a cost of Rs. 2.1 million to be fixed at the internal premises of the Immigration and Emigration head office had been stored for six years without being fixed.

This was revealed when the Immigration and Emigrations Department was summoned before the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) recently.   
It was further revealed that the equipment had been purchased in 2017 and that all the equipment required to install CCTV cameras had not been purchased.   
The officials who were responsible for the purchase have already been transferred.   
COPA Chairman Lasantha Alagiyawanna had instructed to appoint a committee headed by an additional secretary of the Public Security Ministry and take steps to install the CCTV cameras and submit a progress report before May 15.   
The Chairman pointed out that some officials were reluctant to install CCTV cameras.   
The Committee also expressed displeasure over the delay in issuing E-passport for the last four years.