The launching ceremony of the Integration of INTERPOL Database Services with Sri Lanka Immigration Border Control System by Secretary Defence and Urban Development Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa was held today (11th June 2011) at the main auditorium of the Ministry of Defence.
The system of this magnitude is the first of its kind in whole South Asia. The service was developed under the direction of the Secretary Defence and funded by the Government of Canada. The development and integration of the project was carried out by EPIC Lanka and Informatics International Limited under the technical consultancy of Dr Chathura De Silva – Senior Lecturer at University of Moratuwa.
The project will be implemented by the Department of Immigration and Emigration with the Sri Lanka Police.
The system is capable of storing Stolen or Lost Travel Documents and Nominal Information which contains the records of known international criminals with photographs and fingerprints and can even be used online or offline.
The system which was initiated in year 2004 presently holds thirty two million records on file and as of November 2011, there had been six hundred million searches on the database. 187 countries all over the world are connected to the INTERPOL system as of to date.
At the event to mark the launching ceremony, the Controller General of the Department of Immigration and Emigration Mr Chulananda Perera delivered the welcome speech followed by the Introduction to the Project delivered by Project Manager of International Organization for Migration Mr Shantha Kulasekera.
The High Commissioner of Canada HE Bruce Levy also addressed the distinguished gartering. The Chief of Mission of International Organization for Migration Mr Richard Danziger addressing the gathering said that the implementation of the Database was a tremendous achievement and thanked Secretary Defence for his contribution towards the success of the project.
Addressing the distinguished gathering the Secretary Defence said that, another step in strengthening the border security is achieved and thanked the Government of Canada for funding the project and thanked Dr. Chathura and members of the project team.
Secretary of External Affairs, Additional Secretaries of the Ministry of Defence, Chief of National Intelligence and many distinguished guests were present at the event.
