Most people ...

Comments from street interviews: The Rs 1500 hike is similar to last year’s promise. Going by the current COL this is not enough. Racing cars: It is the poor man’s vehicle that is affected. This is a relief for the dictators and their henchmen and not the man in the streets. Ordinary farmers are being given relief is a good move. It is wrong to tax canned fish as they are not made here. When essential imports are taxed it is the common man that suffers. Milk: Though the excuse is to improve local milk production it would take long for local milk meet the demand. Again the poor man suffers.

COMMENTS ON EMAIL:

On wage hike to state employees:

The strategy should be to pay good salaries and make the public sector smaller. The government sector is very lethargic and unproductive. They should be given earlier retirement (55 years) and the public sector reduced. According to living costs and inflation, this increase won't cover even the transport costs of a 4member family. On increasing airport taxes: Is this to fund Mattala airport? This is a small increase yes but what are we trying to prove here? That Sri Lanka is the best holiday destination in the world and that tourists will pay anything to come here? We still have some way to go before that. Before increasing these rates, we need to first build our tourism and business investment environment to attract foreigners. If the idea is to attract more people to this country, we must levy an airport tax that is realistic. I am not sure however whether we should kill the goose that lays the golden egg…tourism-wise. On racing car imports: Completely ludicrous, only because someone loves racing. No prizes for guessing who! This is a ‘let them eat cake’ measure. Taxis providing public transport deserve tax concessions more than racing cars This is a joke. Everyone knows who the beneficiaries are. How does this help develop the country? Pandering to the racing craze of the President’s sons. No benefit to the burning issues in the country. The focus should be country first, not family first. Why on earth, when we do not have a single racing track? On motor vehicle licence fees: Should concentrate on improving the public transport system, especially in urban areas. The reason people buy cars is because public transport is inefficient. We should use this additional income to improve the road system As motorists we are already paying for bad roads, road rage, etc, etc. Getting from A to B is taking longer by the day. What service are we getting for paying these taxes? It would seem that the middle class vehicle owner is being systematically throttled …perhaps the affluent can afford escalating taxes, but we are not in a position to even consider a brand new vehicle because of the high import tax and paying more to stay on the road On youth receiving unused plantation land: There should be a proper programme to develop these lands Will this upset the equilibrium of the plantation community and most deserving, and allow political henchmen to get these lands Intrusion into plantations from outside is not a good idea It’s okay as long as there is no political interference or communalism On taxes on imported tinned fish Protein will be made more inaccessible, malnutrition will worsen Who is this supposed to help? There are more obvious luxury items that should be taxed first It should improve the local production as well as the quality Will affect households as tinned fish is consumed in many homes On increasing imported milk powder taxes: Are the locals ready to cater to local demand? Not until we are able to produce milk powder for the entire nation Will lead to further malnutrition of the poor No consistency in policy. It would be more relevant to improve the process to collect and distribute the produce of the local industry Are we self- sufficient? There are many state farms without proper management. First we have to invite foreign companies to collaborate with existing government farms to improve or start new projects before increasing taxes Will affect households and increase cost of living This is an import substitution effort instead of an export oriented policy. It will result in an increase in local consumer prices and a further increase in import tariff and non-tariff protection of domestic enterprises The dire need is to reduce import tariff protection to make them face global competition on equal terms This is protectionism. Can we not develop our own industry to compete? If not, by taxing milk powder even further, what are the nutritional options for poor people? They will have neither affordable milk from imports nor any steady supply locally On benefits to drought-affected farmers This is a good proposal to help affected farmers. But it’s also to safeguard the government’s vote base My sympathies are with the farmer but what happens when there are floods again next year? Are we to write off interest again? This is a bigger issue involving the future of agriculture in this country. Needs a better plan.