Need for accountability for visa scandal

Monday, 5 August 2024 00:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Last week, the Supreme Court issued an interim order suspending the Cabinet’s decision to approve a foreign company to process visas online. This order, after several Fundamental Rights petitions were filed against the handling of the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system, returns the process to immigration authorities to process visa applications.

Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles had submitted a cabinet paper that allowed for a private consortium to handle visa applications on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka for a hefty fee, which would increase the cost of visas for foreigners. Despite even ministers within the Cabinet calling for the suspension of this agreement which would affect the tourism industry directly, the Cabinet gave the nod to proceed.

Opposition legislators Patali Ranawaka, M.A. Sumanthiran and Rauf Hakeem along with civil society activists and organisations filed FRs, eight cases against the Minister of Public Security and the Government alleging a scam over the visa deal. The petitioners pointed out procedural violations and abuse of public trust by officials in the procurement of IVS-GBS and VFS Global to handle the ETA system.

Last month, the Parliament’s Committee on Public Finance (COPF) recommended that the visa deal be abrogated or revised and the award of the deal without tenders should be forensic audited. In a report to Parliament the committee’s Chair, MP Harsha de Silva noted, “The Consortium was appointed without a competitive bidding process, preventing the Department of Immigration and Emigration from securing the best value for money. It was noted that the company, GBS-IVS, VFS Global, was charging costs of around $ 25 per visa, but Mobitel, the company presently handling the same service was charging only $ 1.

COPF in May expressed strong displeasure regarding the absence of officials from the Ministry of Public Security and the Department of Immigration and Emigration during their hearing into the matter.

While the interim order by the Supreme Court is not a finality in the matter, it is imperative that those responsible for exploiting their positions must be held to account. This involves thorough investigations, transparent judicial proceedings, and appropriate punitive measures. Only by doing so can we hope to restore faith in our institutions.

The approval of the Cabinet of Ministers for this now dubious deal says much about transparency, corruption and sheer lack of accountability in the Wickremesinghe administration.

The visa scam is a stark reminder of the corrosive impact of corruption. There should be greater accountability and transparency from our leaders and institutions. At the bare minimum, the subject Minister should either resign or be removed from his position allowing for a proper transparent investigation into the matter. That however is unlikely and Sri Lanka will move on with yet another scandal behind it with the same individuals holding on to positions of power to continue in their merry ways. Nevertheless ahead of the election President Wickremesinghe has the opportunity to prove his critics are wrong.