Navy-Customs war

26 October 2010 08:16 am

The customs officers are on a strike after they were told that they need permission from the navy to enter the Colombo port from the Chaithya road.

“We will strike till we are given permission. Why do we need permission if we are working at customs for years”, a senior customs officers said.

Navy spokesman Captain Athula Senerath told media that the navy has  a list of names that has been sent to them by the Ports Authority Chairman and the Director General of Customs of those who are permitted to enter through Gate No 1. “We only allow the individuals whose names are in the list as the gate is situated in the High Security Zone (HSZ)”, he said.

“Some of the customs officers tried to bypass the navy and get the approval from the Ministry of Defence. But we told the ministry that we would not allow  them to enter through Gate No 1”, Captain Senerath said. (Supun Dias and Sanath Desmond)

Pic by  Samantha Prerea and Romesh Danushka