Customs in another migrant worker friendly service

Rasika Somarathna

Gift parcels and baggages sent to Sri Lanka as cargo by migrant workers are to be delivered directly to their home courtesy the Sri Lanka Customs. Customs Director General Jagath P Wijeweera said his department would soon introduce a system where such parcels will be delivered directly to the consignees' door step, even in the remotest corner of the island.

Jagath P Wijeweera

On the need to introduce such a mechanism, Wijeweera said: "When migrant workers send gift parcels and their own unaccompanied baggage, there should be an efficient system to clear parcels without causing the recipients to spend long hours at the port or warehouses". The customs chief while identifying migrant workers as a major revenue earner for the country and an important stakeholder of his department, said it was important to treat them with dignity and efficiency.

Sri Lanka's 1.7 million migrant worker fraternity contributes the lions share in the country's foreign earnings.

In 2012, they contributed US $ 6 billion plus. In 2011, their total remittances amounted to US $5.14 billion.

This is equivalent to 8.2 percent of Sri Lanka's GDP, 25 percent of total government revenue and 35 percent of total foreign exchange earnings.