Last week’s parliamentary proceedings proved combative with both the government and the emasculated opposition hurling allegations at each other triggering much heat in the chamber. Observers must therefore be excused for wondering whether arrangements now being made to conduct the long postponed local government elections followed by provincial council polls have enervated political players months after last year’s presidential and parliamentary elections. The NPP/JVP cannot be happy about its performance at recent cooperative elections and opposition parties must be anxious to demonstrate they are not total write-offs as last year’s polls suggested.

Subjects over which angry words were exchanged ranged between luxury Colombo residences being provided to former presidents at taxpayer expense and other privileges enjoyed by government functionaries paid for by the exchequer. The news also broke last week that, on a decision of the House Committee, the elected representatives of the people will no longer be fed sumptuous heavily subsidized meals in the parliament restaurant. Prices will be cost reflective, no less than the president has said. It was reported that MPs will henceforth have to pay Rs. 2,000 for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea at the parliament restaurant against Rs. 450 in the past.

We need hardly labour the fact that there is deep seated public resentment about ministers and parliamentarians being pampered at public expense. Former prime minister, Sir. John Kotelawela, once famously said “handa athey thiyanakan bedaganilla” (as long as the spoon is in your hand, serve yourself!). The ruling elite has been doing just that over the years. The present regime has earned brownie points, probably translating to votes, for its determination to end or at least trim this state of affairs hopefully for all time.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, appearing on a television talk show a few nights ago, repeated the promise that pensions for parliamentarians will be abolished although there is no word yet about when this would be done. The KT Chitrasiri report of a committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge on perks and privileges conferred on politicians, past and present, is in but has not yet been published. But it is known or widely believed that the first steps are being taken regarding the Colombo mansions provided to former presidents is a result of these recommendations.

The present scheme of pensions to parliamentarians is an abomination. A minimum five years of parliamentary service entitles the beneficiary to a lifetime’s pension which will continue to be paid to a surviving spouse, also for life. These pensions are non-contributory. This is quite in contrast to what prevails where government servants are concerned. A public servant must work for 30 years to qualify for a full pension. While both public servants and MPs enjoy non-contributory pensions, government employees must contribute to what is called the Widows and Orphans Pension Scheme (W&OPS) for their families to benefit from their pensions after their death. MPs enjoy that without payment. Also there is no minimum retirement age for parliamentarians unlike in the public service. MPs continue in office until they are defeated or decide not to seek re-election without loss of pension benefits.

While there is no reason to disbelieve the president’s assurance that MPs pensions would be abolished, the question is when? A very large number of pensionable parliamentarians were defeated or decided not to run at the last election as they saw their chances of re-election either as slim or non-existent. We are told that those who became entitled to parliamentary pensions following the last election are already being paid. Where public servants are concerned, it is always not that easy for pension payments to begin soon after retirement. They have to wait for months and years sometimes to be paid as papers from various offices, schools and departments where they served in different parts of the country must be collated to begin such payments. This difficulty will not arise where parliamentarians are concerned. Nevertheless withdrawing privileges, especially from long time beneficiaries, is not as easy as granting them.

Last week’s parliamentary proceedings as well as press reports revealed that three former presidents, Chandrika Kumaratunga, Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena enjoy state-owned residences in Colombo. Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Hema Premadasa have given up such homes they once occupied – Mrs. Premdasa for many years after the assassination of her husband. Mind-boggling government valuations running into millions per month of these perks have been bruited around by the president and others in the ruling hierarchy. CBK is already on record saying she’s spent a fortune, raised by selling her own property, refurbishing and maintaining her official residence. This seems not to be the case where MR is concerned; at least he has not claimed to have done so.

MR’s mouthpieces are on record saying he would go if he’s asked to go. This neither appears to have been done nor has he been asked to pay the true value of the property he occupies. Rajapaksa is entitled to a third of his pension – about Rs. 30,000 – if he is not provided suitable accommodation by the state. While acolytes say there are plenty of people to provide MR with a home if he needs one, the cabinet spokesman says “don’t wait to be asked, just go.” All this, of course, is useless talk. Ministers did occupy state owned mansions over the years. So also did (and do) many state officials. Are valuations placed on state-owned residences they occupy and are they asked to pay commensurate rent?

The present ministers don’t occupy state-owned residences unlike their predecessors where some even built swimming pools for themselves and one installed a lift for his elderly mother. The prime minister, we know, lives in her own home and not at Temple Trees. The president too does not live in government owned premises. Duty free vehicles for MPs, also a past abomination, will be no more. We remember a JVP MP of the past bringing her own buth packet to parliament. But we have not heard of anybody refusing a parliamentary pension he/she was entitled to and wonder whether a single individual has drawn not one but two parliamentary pensions in the past!

Saturday 25th January, 2025

Inordinate delays in the Customs clearance of imported freight containers have angered importers and container truck operators beyond measure. About 30 ships have already skipped the Colombo Port owing to congestion. There seems to be no end in sight to the protracted delays and the resultant long queues of container trucks in areas like Orgugodawatte.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake sought to remedy the situation by ordering the Customs to work 24/7, but to no avail. At a meeting chaired by him, the Customs bigwigs agreed to do as he said, but delays persist.

Worse, it has now been revealed that as many as 323 containers have been released without Customs inspection amidst delays. Deputy Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation Janith Ruwan Kodituwakku has reportedly said the government takes full responsibility for the containers so released.

He has said that due to congestion, some containers have to be processed via the green channel as it is not possible to inspect as many as 2,000 40-foot boxes individually on a daily basis. He has also said the aforesaid 323 containers were released under the supervision of a three-member committee.

Smugglers must be making the most of the unchecked release of shipping containers. Contraband goods are often found in containers brought in through the Colombo Port, which has also become a major entry point for narcotics, and therefore the government must reveal to the public who ordered the release of the aforesaid 323 containers without inspection, and what they carried.

One may recall that in 2013, more than 131 kilos of heroin were found in a shipping container, which a coordinating secretary to the then Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne requested the Customs to clear on a priority basis. In July 2017, a consignment of cocaine weighing 218 kilos was detected in a container carrying sugar, at the Ratmalana Economic Centre. There have been numerous instances where Customs checks yielded huge amounts of dangerous drugs concealed in freight containers. Besides, Sri Lanka shipped back 263 containers filled with hospital waste to the UK; those banned items were imported in 2017 and 2019. This shows why no container should be released through the green channel.

The NPP government keeps on claiming that the current Customs delays have come about due to lapses on the part of the previous administrations, and new container yards will have to be built and the existing ones expanded to streamline the Customs clearance of imported containers.

True, the past governments were not blameless, but the current situation is due to the government’s failure to make the Customs fall in line. So, instead of trying to scapegoat its political rivals, the government must deal with the Customs with a firm hand.

It has chosen to kowtow to a cartel of wealthy rice millers and private bus operators despite its leaders’ braggadocio. The Customs are also defying government orders with impunity to all intents and purposes. Some importers have said that if the government plucks up the courage to confront the Customs, it will be able to streamline the release of containers within 48 hours.

Meanwhile, the irate container truck drivers who have to wait on the road for days on end, without access to sanitary facilities, etc., have threatened a strike. Their grievances are legitimate, and it is hoped that the government will address them.

Friday 24th January, 2025

The Ceylon Chamber of Coconut Industries (CCCI) has called upon the government to import 200 million coconuts immediately to meet a shortfall in the domestic supply. Otherwise, the prevailing coconut shortage will take a turn for the worse during the upcoming festive season, the CCCI has warned. Widely consumed varieties of rice are also in short supply, and their prices are soaring. Red rice has become as rare as a snowflake in summer. The government is all at sea, and when the shortages of rice and coconuts will be over is anybody’s guess. It is busy sorting out issues related to food served in the parliament restaurants, which never experience shortages.

Leader of the House and Minister Bimal Ratnayake announced the other day that the government would ensure that the prices of food sold in the parliament restaurants reflected the costs, and the MPs would have to pay as much as Rs. 3,000 for breakfast, lunch and tea a day. The government has made another about-turn; it has lowered the aforesaid amount to Rs. 2,000, according to media reports.

It was the Opposition that raised the issue of subsidised food in the parliament canteens. SJB MP Hesha Withana told a media briefing in November 2024 that he would bring in a motion seeking to do away with subsidised meals, allowances and loans for the MPs and to have the Madiwela MPs’ housing scheme turned into a university hostel. He did not fulfil that pledge. So, the government members alone cannot be blamed for ‘overpromising’ and ‘underdelivering’. Their Opposition counterparts are also all mouth and no trousers, so to speak.

Denying anyone the pleasure of gratifying his or her gastronomical desires amounts to a breach of ingrained cultural norms of hospitality and generosity cherished by Sri Lankans. But shouldn’t the elected people’s representatives, who come to power, promising to share in the economic hardships of the masses, be reminded that they must not feast on delectable victuals while the electors are struggling to dull the pangs of hunger? The MPs shed copious tears for the ordinary people skipping meals, and the children affected by malnutrition and resultant growth disorders. Isn’t it morally reprehensible for the elected to feast while the electors are starving?

Before last year’s presidential and parliamentary elections, the JVP/NPP politicians had the public believe that, if elected, they would not live in the MPs’ quarters at Madiwela or eat subsidised food in the parliament canteens; they also said they would travel in crowded buses and trains like the ordinary people. Those who voted for them may have expected them to do as they had done while they were in President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga’s UPFA government from 2004 to 2005. The JVP had 39 MPs in that administration, and some of them including Anura Kumara Dissanayake held Cabinet portfolios. They earned the admiration of the public for their simple living.

The NPP government’s promise to discontinue the practice of serving the MPs subsidised meals will resonate with the public who cannot even afford rice and coconuts. But proof of the pudding is said to be in the eating. One cannot decide whether food prices are actually cost-reflective in the parliament restaurants until one sees what the menus feature there.

The holier-than-thou NPP politicians are in overdrive, asking the former Presidents occupying state-owned houses to pay rents commensurate with the government valuation of those properties or vacate immediately. They say they are also planning to auction the vehicles used by politicians during the previous government. So, why can’t they close down the parliamentary restaurants and ask all MPs to brown-bag their lunches?