CHOGM and Limos
Editorial-May 21, 2013
The government is getting ready, as if there were no tomorrow, for the Commonwealth summit which is sure to cost the ordinary people an arm and a leg, if its spending spree is anything to go by. The country has already come to such a pass that the public find it well-nigh impossible to tighten their belts any more, but there is no end to economic burdens being placed on them one after the other.
As if the huge power tariff increase were not enough, private bus operators are demanding a fare hike. After paying for water, electricity, transport, education and health care, people are left with no money to feed and clothe themselves. This is the sad truth about the low and middle income groups. But, a ministerial pundit tells us that a family of three could live on a monthly income of Rs. 7,500! Cynics say people have got their come-uppance for having elected the present government with a steamroller majority.
All signs are that the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled for November will send Sri Lanka’s economy into a tailspin of sorts. It has been reported that the government will import a fleet of super luxury vehicles for the summit. Where they will end up after the event is not difficult to guess. This, we believe, is only a fraction of the colossal expenditure to be incurred. The summit is sure to leave some people who have all the luck richer and the ordinary public much poorer. Will the Opposition ask the government in Parliament how much the November summit will cost the hapless taxpayers?
As for the CHOGM limousines or limos—pun intended; in Greek mythology Limos is Goddess of Starvation!—former Deputy Leader of the UNP Sajith Premadasa, MP has come out with a sensible suggestion. He says a great deal of precious forex could be saved if the government requests Sri Lankans who own such vehicles to make them available for the summit. He should be thanked for trying to knock some sense into the ruling party politicians and speaking for the people. (Apparently, Sajith has not inherited his late father’s profligate spending habits.) However, we believe, there is no need for the government to go begging for cars from outsiders. Limos good enough for even kings and queens are only a call away. Let the ministers and their progeny be asked to part with their Benzes, BMWs, Jaguars, Volvos and the like for a few days so that the foreign dignitaries could use them. (On seeing those flashy vehicles, even Prince Charles may be green with envy!)
However hard the government may try, there is no way it could prevent the Colombo summit being viewed by the world at large as a poor man’s at home. That Sri Lankan politicians who lead whiskey lifestyles on the country’s toddy income go cap in hand to international lending institutions and foreign governments which they malign at home for public consumption is only too well known. Overspending will not help boost the country’s image in any way. The only way to achieve that goal is for the government to manage its resources frugally, develop the national economy, improve its human rights record and bring about good governance. In short, it should create conditions necessary for Sri Lanka to remake itself politically and economically within the matrix of civilised nations.
International events in most developing countries neck-deep in debt usually go the same way as Caligula’s orgiastic revelries or ‘Emperor’ Bokassa’s coronation which an impoverished Central Africa has not yet been able to live down. It is hoped that the Sri Lankan government will desist from squandering public funds and leave no room for the same thing to be said of the Colombo summit.
