Budget blues bared

By Dilukshi Thomas and Abeeth Sarathchandra
Cost of living and concerns over burgeoning Defence expenditure appear as the sticking points as the Government prepares for its third Budget. The Bottom Line spoke to a cross section of people to find out what they expected from the government, what it should give the people and what their main concerns regarding the Budget were. The following are excerpts from these interviews.

General Secretary- Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial & General Worker’s Union (CMU), Bala Tampoe, advocated that the President include financial provisions in the Budget for food commodities and other necessities such as public transport and health services. “These services are an important part of society and they should be provided for accordingly”, noted Tampoe. He also expressed the view that, he and the members of the CMU felt that the money allocated for the Defence sector could be better utilised elsewher. “It has been reported that, there will be Rs.166 billion allocated for Defence. If some of that money was used to develop our Healthcare and Education sector it would be of great service in prospering the country”. Tampoe also stated that, the CMU felt that, the financial priority given to the matter of Defence is causing substantial difficulties in the rest of the sectors. He also reiterated that, the CMU did not agree with the government’s policy of setting aside the bulk of the Budget towards fighting the war.

“We hope that, the government makes the necessary changes in the principles to ensure a better income for the workers of the private sector,” said Inter Company Employees Union Chairman Wasantha Samarasinghe. “We are not unwilling to take necessary actions, even on the day following the Budget, if they (Government) fails to make the really necessary changes,” he added. “The conditions don’t look so good, when you consider what the government has done so far and we are not really looking forward to anything great,” he said, emphasizing on another controversial topic. “The government squanders huge amounts of money on vehicles and huge mansions for the ministers, and we think it has to be stopped,” he said.

Kaushal Thomas, a housewife residing in Colombo was of a similar opinion. She claimed that, for the honest working class citizen, basic necessities such as food clothing and shelter were extremely hard to come by. “The prices of food and other commodities are so high, it is really only by Gods grace that I and my husband are able to provide for our family”. She also said that, there has been some reduction in the prices of basic food items as well as fuel and gas, but she believes that this is only a tactic designed to soften people up for a possible election, that has been speculated frequently in the media. Thomas feels that, the offered relief will be short lived and prices will skyrocket once more. She also added that, she hopes the government would take time to look at the hardship of the poor and working class people and make their decisions accordingly.

“If the plight of the people was considered and the appropriate provisions made for their benefit, we would have a society free of conflict”. Mrs. Thomas also stated that, most of the petty crimes that happen are because of people having no means of putting food on the table, so, they are forced to resort to crime, to feed their families. “In this country, the people that have money will be able to survive, those that don’t, we can only remember in our prayers and hope for the best”.

“A decrease in the oil prices would be a most welcome change,” said Lanka IOC Service Manager Kamal Tennakoon. “The government misuses huge amounts of money on maintaining and acquiring new vehicles for the ministers and, if that money alone, is used for something else, could be made into something really worthwhile,” he said. “I had a lot of faith in the war budget and the huge investments they made but, after the influence made by the Indian Government, I am not so sure about it,” he added, voicing his concerns on the much talked of recent visit to India made by Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa.

Pharmacist S. Rajamanikkam had somewhat different trepidations. “Bus fares are rocketing sky high and so do the food prices and the prices of almost all the necessities. It’s high time the government took the right steps to ensure a better life for citizens,” he said. “There is no point in spending such huge amounts of money on a war, when they could have easily gone for a peaceful solution, but now, everyone has to pay the heavy price for the blunders the government has made.” He added. “The ministers need to come to the normal level of living, in order to understand what the people really want and provide better solutions, but have you ever seen them doing that?” he asked.

“The government’s good at raising the prices whenever there is a hike in the world economy, but there has hardly been any decrease in the prices whatsoever, when the converse happens internationally,” said Wipulasena Mendis, a shopkeeper. “An increase in the salaries is something that goes in the lines of being a mere selfish request, I think it would be more suitable for everyone, if there could be a general reduction in the price of necessities,” he added.

“I am really pleased with the current situation of the north, and I believe that the war is going to end real soon” he added.

“This is just another gimmick to attract more votes at upcoming elections,” said Premadasa Wickremasinghe, who is also a shopkeeper. “The only thing that I want the government to do right now is to give a considerable reduction in the prices of the necessities,” he said. “ They impose a whole load of taxes just to get rid of the burden of the foreign debts and they expect the people to bear those burdens, which are really not fair,” he added. “War expenditures are of course another factor that’s eating away the country,