In Hindsight By Citizen Perera

Nov.19th 2010

This must be a huge embarrasment to the consciences of the Sri Lankan Administrative Staff, reaching upto the highest level when the open media blatantly says that “In a strange turn of events, the Treasury has amended the circular relating to vehicle imports enabling more MPs to import vehicles for their personal use under duty concessions, government sources said yesterday.” But excuse me! Is this for real or some kind of a joke??

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In a land which has a surface area of a mere 25,000 Sq.miles approximately and already congested with volumes of traffic which can only be described as astronomical where one needs no rocket science to calculate exhaust emmission related pollution levels as ~ SIMPLY SUPER ASTRONOMICAL~ what seems to be the priority as well as urgency to provide permits for luxury vehicles in what some compare with as “the provision of ladders for swinging monkeys” as the Sinhala saying goes and perhaps those who have initiated and approved such a project need to re-think their decision ! and the analogy to primates made with all due respect to the good politicians who do not seek these items as a testimony towards their own integrities!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ These are times in Sri Lanka where austerity and the prudence towards such excessive frivolities need to be set in place in exemplary manner and the MP’s in quest of luxury cars given fee bus passes, taxifare or the means to access vehicles already availabe within the country from either used car lots or dealers within reasonbable pricing in keeping with their status as after all these are not some divine entities entitled to the privilege but ordinary citizens serving the public.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Thus the ownership of a vehicle in Sri Lanka should relate primarily to functionality and not an upkeep of the lifestyles of the rich and famous ( a mere nom de plume not to be confused with the real universal application which is nonetheless a hallmark of the West in decadent perspective !) of Sri Lanka’s politically elite perhaps but that too somewhat dubious and more than likely an aspiration of grass roots politicians to set the record straight!

And to those who argue on the basis that some these MP can afford these items out of their own pockets and the concession a privilege extended by the Government towards their comfort, it is irrelevant as they need to be reminded that being elected to Parliament and the carrying out of Parliamentary duties need no luxury items, Benz’s, Pagaros, SUV’s or limousines as in days gone by the nation was indeed administered by those who travelled within their means and every available transportation facilities which did not incorporate luxury imports whether personally acquired or provided for their personal use by a grateful administration paying homage to certain loyalties, by any stretch of the imagination if this be the case.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There were of course the exceptions of wealthy individuals and dowagers from dynasties who did motor about in Roll’s Royce’s, Cadillacs, Benz’s, and Austin Princesses purchased on family wealth or part of an already existing estate hardly involving luxury import permits but these were mostly within an era of British Rule or in the near aftermath where even horse drawn carriages sometimes featured as a means of luxurious transportation where the ordinary man could only watch in awe as the privilege woud never be theirs realistically!

One wonders whether these MP’s in quest of luxury imports are trying to indulge also in what may once have been an unnattainable fantasy in most cases where the Government seems to be providing the stepping stone towards their aspirations which are of no net worth towards the progress and development of the nation and seem negative and worthless in a climate where austerity and prudence seems imperative towards development and excessively expansive expenditure regardless of how private it may be has no place especially considering the related tariffs !

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Perhaps the Administration should lead by example and negate these permits while providing viable means of functional transportation to some ot these thrill seekers wanting to be seen gadding about in their jaunty jalopies as it is neither a tenet of free enterprise towards rational interpretation within an acceptable norm nor does it fit into the framework of a smooth functioning well co-ordinated Nation whose priorities seem far removed from luxury permits for parlimentarians unless one mistakenly believes that it is a means towards the better functioning of these individuals and by itself a myth for obvious reasons !