A public survey conducted in 2024 has identified the Police, politics, and Customs as the top three institutions perceived to be most vulnerable to bribery and corruption in Sri Lanka, according to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC).

CIABOC Chairman Neil Iddawela, addressing a seminar in Colombo on Thursday, said the survey placed the Police at number one, followed by politics and the Customs Department. Other institutions highlighted by the public included the Department of Immigration and Emigration, schools and the Education Ministry, the Land Registry, Provincial Councils, the Foreign Employment Bureau, Divisional Secretariats, and the Registrar General’s Department.

Iddawela noted that while many institutions were cited, five were identified as having the greatest impact on the economy: Customs, the Inland Revenue Department and provincial revenue offices, the Excise Department, the Immigration and Emigration Department, and the Department of Motor Traffic. He added that agencies such as the National Gem and Jewellery Authority and the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau also enabled financial misconduct and money laundering.

“What fuels a corrupt culture is the failure of law and order, the normalization of corruption, and the public’s reluctance to take action,” Iddawela said. “We cannot dismiss corruption as a matter of mutual consent between giver and taker—it remains an offence under the law.”

The seminar, organized by the Sri Lanka Administrative Service Association and the Sri Lanka Institute of Administrative Professionals, was held under the theme “Integrity, Transparency, and Good Governance for National Development.” (Newswire)

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