CCTV cameras purchased for Immigration Dept. six years ago yet to be installed

The CCTV camera system that had been purchased at a cost of Rs. 2.1 million to be fixed inside the premises of the Department of Immigration and Emigration had been in storage for six years without being installed, the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) revealed. 

The revelation came when the Department of Immigration and Emigration was recently summoned before COPA under the chairmanship of State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna. 

It was further revealed that while the CCTV system had been purchased in 2017, not all of the equipment needed for installation of the system had been purchased. The officials who were responsible for this purchase have since been transferred. 

The COPA Chair noted that some officials in such institutions were reluctant to install CCTV cameras in their institutions. COPA ordered the Department to take immediate steps to install the CCTV system within the institution's premises under the direction of a committee headed by an additional secretary to the Ministry of Public Security. 

COPA also drew attention to the fact that the issuance of e-passports had been delayed by four years though the process commenced in 2020. Officials informed the Committee that the procurement process for the e-passport system was in its final stages. COPA instructed the Department to take immediate steps to expedite the process of setting up the e-passport system.