Sri Lanka possibly losing two-thirds of border tax revenue due to corruption, says Shippers’ Council

• CB governor says lack of credible information has been one of key barriers to addressing these claims in past

By Nishel Fernando

The Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council claimed that the government coffers could be losing as much as two-thirds of potential border tax revenue, due to corrupt activities by the officials in key border agencies.

Shippers’ Council Chairman Sean Van Dort, speaking at the Colombo International Maritime and Logistics Conference last week, alleged that these illicit funds have been laundered out of the country and invested in assets overseas. He stated that substantial evidence supports these allegations.

Van Dort raised these concerns while posing a question to Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe during a panel discussion at the conference.

“We are well aware, it’s almost no secret that the border protection agencies, who cockroach people, own mansions in Australia and around the world. I am wondering how the US dollars leaked out of the country.We still feel that two-thirds of the money, which should be credited to the government coffers, is still running around, filling the pockets of these corrupt officials,” he added.

In response, Dr. Weerasinghe said the new government is prioritising addressing these deep-rooted corrupt activities, under its zero-tolerance policy for corruption. However, he pointed out that the lack of credible information has been one of the key barriers to addressing these claims in the past.

“If you have this information, I am quite confident the responsible government authorities will take swift action, especially under the new government, which has adopted a zero-tolerance policy for corruption. For example, there are rules and regulations to combat money laundering under the FIU. If there is evidence, there are ways and means to take action. But making these attachments without proper information or evidence, we cannot do much,” he stated.