No evidence Brandix brought Indians to Sri Lanka just before the latest crisis

The Government today informed Parliament there was no evidence to back claims that Brandix brought Indians to Sri Lanka just before the latest coronavirus crisis.

Responding to a question raised in Parliament today, Minister of Industries Wimal Weerawansa said that he investigated the matter and found there was no evidence to back the claims.

Weerawansa said that Brandix is registered as a company under the Board of Investment (BOI) and us such if it is to bring down any foreigner for work then it must obtain BOI approval while other companies must seek approval from the Industries Ministry.

The Minister said that he had checked with the Industries Ministry and found that no company which falls under his Ministry had sought approval to bring down Indians for technical or any other work.

Weerawansa said that he had also inquired from the BOI and found that no BOI registered company had sought approval to bring down Indians in the recent past.

He also said that he had inquired from the Immigration and Emigration Department and found that they also had no records of Indians arriving in the country to work for any apparel company in the recent past.

Brandix had been accused of bringing down Indians resulting in the latest wave of the coronavirus spreading in the country.

However, Brandix had noted that they had not had any visitors or travelers from India enter its Minuwangoda facility during the past two months.

However Brandix had said that a total of 341 employees and members of families travelled from their facility in Visakhapatnam, India to Sri Lanka on three separate chartered flights on 25^th?June, 8^th?August and 22^nd?September 2020.

Brandix said that all the passengers followed the Sri Lanka Government protocol for the prevention and control of COVID-19, which includes PCR testing and a 14-day mandatory quarantine at a Government regulated quarantine facility, as well as the 14-day self-quarantine process done under the supervision of the respective PHIs. (Colombo Gazette)