The State Minister also pointed out that the committee appointed to look into the matter met on July 4 and agreed to submit its final report to Cabinet by the second week of August.

According to the report, a final decision is to be taken regarding the import of vehicles so that there is no undue impact on the exchange status of the country and the people’s needs are prioritised.

He said that the vehicles will be imported under the order of four categories i.e. public transport vehicles, goods transport vehicles, alternative vehicles, general vehicles and private vehicles.

The Cabinet approved the import of 1,000 vehicles needed for the tourism industry and none of those vehicles have been imported so far, the State Minister revealed.

Under this, 250 buses and 750 passenger vans have been allowed to be imported subject to the permission of the Tourism Ministry, Siyambalapitaya said.