Excise TUs say they don't oppose naval officer becoming Departmental Head

Tradition is to appoint experienced in-service officer or SLAS higher-up familiar with Govt. taxation policy as Commissioner General of Excise, one of three revenue-generating arms of Treasury

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AMID the Government’s move to appoint a naval officer as the Head of the Excise Department, which is portrayed by sections within the force as a clear violation of the tradition, the Excise trade unions (TUs) yesterday denied opposition to this appointment saying “anybody” should be given a chance.

The Cabinet nod was received to appoint a new Chief to the Department of Excise last week, when the incumbent Commissioner General of Excise was scheduled to retire yesterday as he was turning 60 years of age on Wednesday.

Thus, the name of a senior naval officer as proposed by President Anura Kumara Disanayake as the Finance Minister, had been granted the green light by the Cabinet of Ministers and the new appointment was fixed for today (11).