Convening a media conference in Colombo, a group of buyers of vehicles under the brand name ‘Emperor’ which had been locally assembled by Vehicles Lanka (Pvt) Limited at the Minuwangoda industrial park, revealed that an injustice has been meted out to them as they are still unable to register around 90 such assembled vehicles.

While joining this media conference, a person named Harsha de Silva who said he is the chairman of the Board of Investment approved Vehicles Lanka (Pvt) Limited said that his company had legally sold these particular vehicles assembled at his factory and that registering them was the responsibility of the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles.

The company named Vehicles Lanka (PVT) Ltd had assembled these vehicles using imported used components and had obtained initial permission to assemble a maximum of 2,250 vehicles within three years at 750 vehicles per year and thereafter assemble vehicles using new components and with a 30 percent local value addition, said the individual named Harsha de Silva claiming to be the chairman of the company.

He further added that a higher-up and a female official from the Finance Ministry and a senior female official in the legal sector had obstructed his business.

Those who had bought these vehicles said that though it is two years since they had bought the vehicles their inability to get them registered is unreasonable.

Photo caption: Charith Chandrawickrema, one of the ‘Emperor’ vehicle buyers during the media conference