Ravi Karunanayake, UNP M.P. speaking to the Media today said, the Rajapakse Bros. Govt. is crippling the entire country’s machinery; incommoding and exploiting the people; closing Schools; halting the railway and bus services; demolishing valuable buildings and structures; trying to illegally evict residents from their houses; all, just to entertain itself and a few Foreign delegates at a SAARC Summit lasting just for a few days, from 27th July to August 3rd. At the end of all these ‘circus acts ’and elaborate preparations, what is the benefit the Govt. going to reap for the people?, he asked. The Govt. does not bother about the loss to the country resulting from the closing of Schools, railway and bus services, ejecting residents from their homes without providing alternative shelters and demolishing valuable buildings. These losses are apart from the expenditure on SAARC at people’s expense.
The Govt. is going to spend (or waste?) a colossal 2880 million rupees on this SAARC conference for whose benefit? To meet this colossal expenditure, it is presenting a supplementary estimate to Parliament shortly. Finally, is it not the people this Govt. has to exploit and ‘extort’ to defray these expenses? Is it therefore no wonder it has no choice except unendingly impose taxes, tariff and price hikes, and hardships on the masses regardless of their already poverty stricken condition and starvation.?, Karunanayake inquired. Already Govt. is gearing itself to raise gas and milk food prices. Many more are to follow, he warned.
The Govt.’s obsession with cheap publicity gimmicks, like making a big din out of a SAARC conference, celebrating a war victory which belongs to the Forces and manipulated election victories accomplished by force and violence, have made it blind to finding solutions to the people’s dire sufferings, soaring cost of living, inflationary spiral, and even the GSP + problem, among others which really are the need of the hour.
