The United National Party says Ministers of the government and their families are utilizing water bowsers - which were supposed to be distributed among one million people - to fill their residential swimming pools.
The UNP issued a statement claiming that the government had ignored the necessities of one million people who are suffering due to lack of water. It states that the government has made false claims by saying that they have allocated 37 water bowsers and has set aside 1.9 Million rupees or less than Rs.2000 per person for relief.
Severe drought has already affected several parts of the country, plunging many people into a destitute condition.
“Compare this with the tax relief provided for the luxury vehicles which were imported for the Colombo Night Races to the value of Rs. 200 million in lost revenue. The money spent by the President's children on their racing craze is phenomenal. It was reported that just the sand bags used for these races alone the Government spent Rs. 40 million. Also compare this with the colossal losses made by Mihin Lanka, the airline maintained for the sole purpose of fulfilling an egocentric desire of the President. According to the recently published COPE report the airline made a loss of Rs 6 billion in the last two years alone”, the statement says.
There is another ancient belief among our people that the annual Kandy Perehera brings rain and prosperity to the country. The peoples' belief in this rain giving sacred relic, is yet another reason for its veneration by Sri Lankans. Yet even this holy of holy cities and the temple of the tooth relic was recently desecrated by the Rajapaksa offspring when they took their night race craze to Kandy. Ignoring the protest of even the Mahanayakes of the Asgiriya and Malwatta chapters the organizers not only callously went ahead with the event but brought in skimpily dressed foreign dancers to perform in front of the sacred temple of the tooth to please the warped desires of a few," the statement added.
“It is indeed a sad state of affairs that while millions of tax rupees are spent by the government on extravagant events that over a million people are fighting a battle to obtain their daily drinking water,” the UNP said.
