The Minister ar a meeting with Ministry departmental heads said that during the period of the previous administration licenses to duty free shops had been issued in an adhoc manner and as such the decision to cancel licenses of all Duty Free Shops at the two airports had to be taken.

The Minister yesterday directed the relevant authorities to call for tenders for Duty Free outlets adhering to proper tender procedures and with transparency.

There are 56 Duty Free Shops at the Bandaranaike International Airport and for the Mattala Airport a license has been issued to a single person.