State Minister of Finance Mr. Ranjith Siambalapitiya has stated that the Ministry of Finance has issued a statement that steps will be taken to release 1 million kilos of rice in 79 containers which have been held at the port by the customs for many years due to various reasons.
The announcement states that these 79 containers have been detained due to non-payment of late fees.
The Ministry also states that it has been decided to release these rice containers in a special discussion held this afternoon with the officials of the port and the Sri Lanka Customs.
Minister in charge Nimal Siripala de Silva has also participated in this discussion held at the Ministry of Ports and Aviation. The Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Ranjith Siambalapitiya, has called this meeting to discuss the matters observed during his recent visit to the premises belonging to the Sri Lankan Customs at the port of Colombo.
The State Ministry of Finance stated that in order to reduce the heavy traffic at the Colombo Port, it was decided to release over 950 containers currently held there by the Customs without late fees.
The ministry said that apart from rice, there is a large stock of karunka and turmeric in these containers and arrangements will be made to release the relevant containers under a priority list.
The Ministry further states that the related Cabinet paper will be forwarded to the Cabinet soon.
