'Dragon light' demand for ENT doctor to guide her way through Viyathmaga
Weeks earlier, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) parliamentarians demanded that the four police officers now assigned for their security be retained and not reduced to two.
Their appeal came during a party leaders' meeting chaired by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. Internal
Security Minister Chamal Rajapaksa explained that increasing demands for police personnel on crime prevention and other related duties prevented such a move.
It included the ongoing crackdown on the illegal drugs mafia and the underworld. Moreover, increased security commitments to parliamentarians with a lower threat perception was also costing a great deal of money, he said.
It seems that security costs are only one aspect of demands of parliamentarians. There are also other commitments that add to the burden of the exchequer.
Take for example a request by Dr Seetha Arambepola (MBBS, MD,
DOHNS), former Western Province Governor, now National List MP and State Minister for skills development, vocational education, research and innovation.
Her Private Secretary Manjula Perera, has written to the Additional Secretary (Administration and Finance) of the same Ministry on September 25 giving a list of her immediate requirements.
Here is what they are:
An Apple mobile phone
An i-Pad
A "Dragon Light" for her official vehicle
An umbrella to be kept in her official vehicle
A VIP light for her official vehicle. This is the one that flickers when VIPs are escorted by the security detail in motorcades.
Many questioned why the minister, a prominent member of the Viyathmaga (Professionals for a Brighter Future); an organisation that constantly boasts about how its members will be different from typical politicians, is now asking for such items at taxpayers' expense -- just like a typical politician.
While the letter was bad enough, a media statement issued by Dr Arambepola’s Media Secretary on Tuesday (September 29), evidently as an attempt at damage control, only made it worse. The letter claimed the items were “used ones” that should have been returned to the ministry by the ministers who worked at the ministry previously. The items are covered by an inventory and should be legally handed over to the ministry. The items that Dr Arambepola’s personal staff had requested were those that were yet to be returned by ministers who held the post previously, it asserted.
There are several issues with the explanation given by the media secretary. Firstly, the Skills Development, Vocational Education, Research & Innovation Ministry is an entirely new one. Secondly, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has asked his ministers to lead by example and not to waste taxpayer funds. Thirdly, cannot the minister, a Consultant ENT Surgeon
by profession, afford a new umbrella?
Social media is already mocking Dr Arambepola's explanation, with users sharing photographs of their old umbrellas, offering them to the minister.
Imagine every State Minister having all these. The latest Apple iPhone 11 costs almost Rs 300,000 for a 512 GB unit. The Apple four series iPad air of the same capacity would cost nearly Rs 200,000.
Imagine all State Ministers, if they win these luxuries, flickering their way through crowded traffic? Little wonder it is the taxpayers who will see “the Dragon Light” and where their money goes.