Chief Opposition Whip MP Lakshman Kiriella raised concerns in Parliament today over the newly introduced visa issuance system at the Katunayake Airport, claiming that the Parliament was not informed of the decision on the charges of global visa processing service, VFS Global.
Addressing the Parliament, MP Kiriella said the Gazette published on the new visa issuance scheme only approves an increase in visa fees and not that of VFS Global.
Stating that the Parliament Hansard also only consists of the discussion on the increase in visa fees, MP Kiriella questioned how the VFS fee had been implemented following a discussion in the Cabinet.
MP Kiriella pointed out that the VFS fee is a separate segment, and as the Parliament has the Financial Power, the matter cannot be decided by the Cabinet.
He further accused the authorities of having completely bypassed the Parliamentary system.
Responding to the queries, Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles acknowledged that the proposal regarding VFS charges was not presented to Parliament.
“The proposal regarding VFS was presented to the Cabinet. A committee appointed to study the matter had issued recommendations after which the proposal was resubmitted to the Cabinet and thereafter, approved. I never said that the VFS proposal on charges was presented to Parliament. We only spoke of the increase in Visa fee and the proposal on VFS in general,” Minister Alles explained.
Minister Alles said that the committee had provided necessary recommendations after which the proposal, including VFS charges, was resubmitted to Cabinet and approved, due to which it was not necessary to be presented to Parliament. (Newswire)
“He says the matter (VFS) was not presented to Parliament. Then he questions the opposition for not debating the matter when it was presented in Parliament. These are double-tongued stories, he misled Parliament,” Chief Opposition Whip MP Lakshan Kiriella referring to Minister… pic.twitter.com/8gP60uiEcm
— NewsWire 🇱🇰 (@NewsWireLK) May 7, 2024
