Editorial Courtesy The Island

Saturday 8th September, 2018

The government has reportedly decided against hiring out the Temple Trees (TT) banquet hall hereafter following a controversy over MP Chathura Senaratne’s recent wedding there. This decision has left one baffled.

The public, we believe, was not aware that the TT banquet hall could be hired as a magul maduwa (MM) for wedding receptions. However, in a country where state assets such as ports and airports are leased to foreigners for 99 years with provision for further extensions, the hiring out of a section of the Prime Minister’s official residence for wedding receptions should not come as a surprise to anyone.

Government politicians have been seen at mass weddings of Chinese couples, in Colombo, though they had us believe before the 2015 regime change, that they would see the back of each and every Chinese first thing after forming a government. One need not be surprised if the government decides to hire out even the President’s House in Fort as a honeymoon location for foreign couples and charge a premium on the luxury bunker which is said to be located there.

The government insists that proper procedure was followed in making the hall available to the young UNP MP the other day and the state has been paid as much as Rs. 2.1 million for the wedding. If there has been no wrongdoing, why should the government stop hiring out the banquet hall and lose income? After all, the present administration is known for its desperation to raise funds by selling, leasing, renting and hiring state assets; it has introduced a special loan scheme to enable the ordinary people to expand their humble dwellings and provide accommodation to foreign tourists for a fee.

We hate to make an issue of anyone’s wedding and do not seek to fault or embarrass MP Senaratne. We wish him and his wife a lifetime of love and happiness. But, we believe, there are some questions that the government ought to answer if it is to put the matter at issue to rest once and for all.

Has the MM at TT been hired out previously for wedding receptions? If so, who hired it? Have payments been made and receipts issued? Besides, will the Auditor General or a senior official of his department tell the public whether or not there has been a transgression?