Parliamentarians vehicle fiasco:
PM suspends funds released by Treasury
by Manjula Fernando
Ministers whose names were linked to the new luxury vehicles fiasco,
came up with various excuses with regard to their names being mentioned
in the vehicle list submitted to Parliament last week.
The paper presented in Parliament which sought approval to release
Treasury funding for Ministry projects including the purchase of new
luxury vehicles, was submitted by Media Minister Gayantha Karunatilleke
on behalf of Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake.
While Deputy Ministers Ranjan Ramanayake and Harsha de Silva
disassociated themselves from the list, saying there was no need for new
vehicles at this point of time, when sections of the masses had suffered
immense hardship due to multiple disasters both natural and man-made.
However, a total of 21 Ministry Secretaries had conveyed that their
Ministries required new official vehicles.
Later Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe intervened and suspended
the proposed allocation of Rs. 1,175 million for the purchase of these
vehicles. These vehicles were for 12 Ministers, 10 Deputy Ministers and
five State Ministers.
Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructue Minister Harin Fernando
said, his name ended up in the list, since the Ministry Secretary had
responded to a circular dated 4.04.2016, inquiring if there was a
requirement for new official vehicles for Ministers and the Deputies.
"My Ministry is a new Ministry, I am using a vehicle previously used
by Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, while the Deputy Minister has no
official vehicle. There was a requirement to obtain new vehicles. It was
wrong to imply that we asked for new vehicles from the government. There
was an internal communique to which the Ministry Secretary responded,
that is all," he responded when contacted by the Sunday Observer.
Deputy Minister of Mass Media and Parliamentary Affairs Karunaratne
Paranavithana said the Prime Minister had suspended the release of funds
from the Treasury to buy new vehicles until compensation and relief to
the people affected by the Salawa calamity is finalized. "Hence,
Ministers will have to be satisfied with vehicles used by former
ministers for a couple of months," he said.
The Deputy Minister said at this time of grief, the government had to
heed to the public outcry against approving supplementary estimates to
purchase new vehicles for Ministers, although it was a regular
administrative move.
Minister Fernando said, these vehicles will not be private property
but property owned by the state. "Hundreds of state-owned vehicles have
gone missing during the latter part of the previous regime, but no one
talks about this," the Minister lamented.
The costs of those vehicles mentioned in Parliament were calculated
after tax. "To acquire official vehicles, the Treasury insisted in
following proper procedure through Parliament as well as paying taxes,
something that was practised in the breach by the previous regime," he
said.
"This situation would never have come to light, if it had happened in
the past," he added.
Social Empowerment and Welfare Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake
said, his Ministry too received the circular but had returned it as
there was no need for new luxuries at this juncture. "We must follow the
example set by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe. They were using vehicles that were used by the earlier
incumbents."
The government imposed added taxes on most vehicular imports last
month, to discourage imports to ease heavy traffic on the road. The
public including three wheeler drivers were furious over the decision.
It was at a time when the people had barely recovered from the 'VAT
shock'. Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake later responded that it was
only a temporary measure. Deputy Minister Paranavithana clarified the
proposed allocations to the Ministry of Field Martial Sarath Fonseka,
saying it was for several vehicles and not just one. "Field Martial
Fonseka's Ministry is a new Ministry and there were no resources
allocated to this Ministry. The funds have been allocated for three
vehicles and the criticisms against him were unfair," he said.
Cabinet spokesperson Minister Gayantha Karunatilleke during last
week's Cabinet briefing defended the decision to obtain Rs.1.2billion
from the Treasury to purchase a new fleet of over 33 luxury vehicles.
Minister Rajitha Senaratne justified the move, adding the Ministers were
on the go on official duty and therefore needed four-wheel vehicles to
facilitate their job.
However, the Government came under heavy criticism over the move.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe suspended the funds being released by the
Treasury to buy the luxury vehicles late last week, even though the
supplementary estimates were presented to Parliament earlier.
Refer to graphic for full list of Ministries which called for new
vehicles. |