A gazette removing the duty tax of nearly 4000 items pertaining to the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA) has been passed secretly, accuses the Joint Opposition.

JO MP Bandula Gunewardane stated this joining a press conference held in Colombo, today (14).

Every mid-year, a report on the state financial situation at the mid-year is presented and he meticulously studies this, says MP Gunewardane.

According to the report, a gazette has been published lifting duty taxes of 3539 customs related taxonomies under the SLSFTA, said the MP.

He searched the Parliament Library to find this gazette notification and when checking on the website for it, he only found the gazette number but not any directions under it, he said.

When he queried the Government Printers on this, they avoided without giving a clear answer, says Gunewardane.

He had checked the file in which documents are kept after being tabled, where he found out that the said gazette was passed on 21st of July.

When he inquired the relevant section regarding this, he was informed that there had been 350 gazette notifications; however, no one in the JO had received this particular gazette notification, says MP Gunewardane.

This gazette should be presented to the Opposition Leader or the Main Organizer of the Opposition and had they received it, they would mention it and oppose it, according to the MP.

And in case the Opposition had received it and not mentioned it, they are working with the government, points out the MP.

The gazette hasn’t been properly handed over to the Customs Department either; however, certain items have already been released from the customs duty, he said.

A racket of re-exporting soil mixed with gold is underway even now and investigations on that have been thrown under the rug by the intervention of the upper-departments of the government, he further said.

This is a national crime and a betrayal of this sort hasn’t been done by even the 1815 Kandy Convention, says Gunewardane.

Under the SLSFTA, there are directions to export waste, invest on it and then, provide services after investing.

MP Gunewardane requests to bring the attention of the President on this and to hold the gazette until the committee report on SLSFTA is final.