Flaws in tourism
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The Sunday Times Business, it appears, was the first off the blocks to notice the public of a possible corrupt deal when it questioned in a May 5, 2024 story headlined “VFS charges $25 while local company charges only $1” as to why the government had brought in global visa facilitation agency VFS Global at a fee of $25.77 per visitor entry into the country when Mobitel had been charging only $1 per applicant in a scheme that was efficient and competent for the Immigration and Emigration Department!Perhaps the straw that broke the camel’s back came when Opposition politicians – Patali Champika Ranawaka, M.A. Sumanthiran and Rauf Hakeem – threw their weight behind a welter of protests against the new visa scheme introduced by Sri Lanka in April 2024 accusing the authorities of a fraudulent deal while the tourism industry said the new scheme with a higher visa fee had more confused procedures and led to a drop in targeted arrivals.
As if reading my mind, Arthika, my nonsensical economist friend also known as good-for-nothing Somey, called on Thursday to discuss this deal which has drawn widespread protests. “I say… there are huge repercussions over the e-visa deal. Why did the government want to hurriedly change a scheme that was working perfectly and at such low cost?” he asked.
“Maybe because there is fraud involved as the three opposition MPs allege. Apart from the allegations of fraud, the tourism industry says the new scheme is so confusing and has too many steps that potential visitors prefer not to visit Sri Lanka,” I said.
“It’s a shame that such things are happening when tourism is on a roll and hoping to achieve the 2018 levels when tourism enjoyed its best ever-year of 2.3 million arrivals,” he said.
“Well with a presidential election on September 21, I wonder what would happen to this scheme if President Ranil Wickremesinghe loses his bid to win the poll, “ I said. “In such a situation, it would probably be discontinued,” he said.
The trio of opposition politicians challenging the scheme says this is the biggest fraud perpetrated in Sri Lanka; no mean accusation. Taking a breather, I walked into the kitchen to fetch a ‘maalu paan’ (fish bun) and a mug of tea, glancing toward the margosa tree where the trio had gathered for their weekly ‘gossip’.
“Ithin chandey den thiyanawa nae (So, finally elections are going to be held),” said Serapina.
“Den ithin, elavalu mila bahi. Eka karey aanduwa kiyala egollo kiyayi (Now all the vegetable prices will come down and the government will claim credit for this),” noted Mabel Rasthiyadu.
“Mae chandey amaru-wei mokada balagathu apekshakayan dennekta wediya inna nisa (It’s going to be a difficult election because there are more than two strong candidates),” said a worried Kussi Amma Sera.
Munching the ‘maalu paan’, I sat down at the computer and wistfully thought about the e-visa scheme and wondered why we were shooting ourselves in the foot by opting for a more expensive product when a locally-managed one was working perfectly. Was there fraud and corruption in the deal? The three opposition politicians strongly believe so and will raise these issues and more when the court resumes the next hearing of their case.
What is even more puzzling is that the tourism authorities were working on a free visa scheme for nationals of 67 countries – an effort to compete with many other tourist-attracting destinations – before, in a totally unexpected move, the new scheme was introduced. In fact earlier this week Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Chalaka Gajabahu said this proposal will be submitted to the Cabinet. ““We are offering free visas to visitors from seven countries including India, China, Russia, Japan and Thailand. We have suggested that this number be increased to 67. I think it will go as a proposal to the Cabinet this (next) week,” he added, according to one media report.
At a Sunday Times Business Club event in May focusing on tourism, a senior government official explained the tremendous amount of work that had gone into the free visa scheme for 67 countries and was preparing to present it to the Cabinet. He himself expressed surprise at the costly e-visa scheme that was eventually allowed by the cabinet.
Strong protests by the industry then led to the scheme which originally cost $100 inclusive of a facilitation of $25.77, to revert back to the earlier $50 per entry for 30 days. However the government was not getting the entire $50 as VFS was getting, though lower, a fee of $10. This still means citizens of seven countries, India, China, Russia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia who were entitled to free visas, have to pay a facilitation fee of $10 per entry.
Once again, one wonders why the government was hell bent on approving this scheme when the authorities were planning to resort to a free visa scheme for 67 countries. Maybe this proposed scheme will still contain the $10 facilitation cost. But if that’s the case, it’s no longer a free visa.
Industry officials in their petition to court said after the e-visa scheme was introduced, arrivals had dropped from targeted figures. They said while the previous scheme posed 10-11 questions to applicants, it now asked around 30 questions. It also raised some security issues. One visitor who was given a visa, suddenly found his email flooded with personal details of other, unrelated applicants sent erroneously from the official website, one of the reasons why the politicians went to court citing security concerns.
The government including Public Security Minister Tiran Alles, who presented the new scheme, has vigorously defended it accusing a few immigration officials of trying to sabotage it.
So as I wind up my column, eagerly awaiting the September 21 election when for the first time – in my book – no single candidate is likely to get a 50 per cent plus one vote majority resulting in the importance of a second preference vote, all bets are on the new e-visa scheme being replaced with the free visa proposal for 67 countries, however with the facilitation fee of $10.
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