President to open new Customs Hqrs in June

by Kurulu Kariyakarawana

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will open the new building to house the Sri Lanka Customs Headquarters at Chalmers Jetty on June 23, Customs sources said. The much anticipated official opening of the building will take place along with the launch of the first ever Customs museum in the world to showcase its long-standing history in the country and exhibit the samples of various unlawful items detected in the course of time.

Construction work on the massive building at the Chalmers Jetty in Fort bordering the Beira Lake on one side commenced in 2010 and was completed in 2012. With an estimated construction cost of Rs.4.5 billion the state-of-the-art building awaited an official opening up to now.

The Customs museum will also exhibit items that had been recovered in various detections throughout the country.

Contraband related to wildlife, antiques and artefacts that were seized while being attempted to be smuggled out of the country will be exhibited in the museum.

Dangerous substances such as narcotics and other precious items including jewellery and gems will also be displayed.