“Sri Lanka’s public sector vehicle expense rises dramatically”
I read with interest the article on public vehicles under the above heading in the last Business Times.
When there is such a large number of government ministries and departments and other institutions and such a large number of people’s representatives what more can we expect? In addition to the basic requirement of transportation the vehicles in Sri Lanka have become a status symbol as well. To perform the duties the first thing the politicians as well executives want is a good vehicle. The vehicles tend to be bigger and better when they are not paid for by themselves. In addition when the government wants to compensate its officials with a better salary they are given duty free permits, similar to the politicians. These have become so common now we tend to accept them as business as usual. But we need to ask some questions in these trying times. I am not going to bring in the point of improving public transport as the immediate solution since it is not possible in the short term.
Many years ago after learning a similar practice in Malaysia where the public officers are given vehicles through one company I wrote to newspapers discussing the merits of that idea but at that time there was no supporting technology.
I wish to make the following suggestions to reduce the need to increase vehicles and to reduce the cost:
1.Use a technology platform that is similar to UBER or PICK ME and allow various government officials to request vehicles. In order for this to be effective let all non-technical vehicles be registered with this platform and charge various institutions based on the usage only. Currently every government institution must send a monthly running chart for every vehicle to the Auditor General’s Department. All these will not be necessary if we move to a technology platform. It will provide valuable information about the movement of vehicles. Depending on the seniority of the officer a certain amount of free personal usage may be allowed and any excess can be charged directly. Eventually all the general purpose vehicles can be transferred to a single entity which can thus operate as a shared service provider.
2.Government should bring in a policy with regard to the use of vehicles. Most modern vehicles can be used without any major repairs for five to six years. At the end of that period those vehicles should be sold thus reduce constant maintenance. Most government institutions cannot repair their vehicles on time because of the cash flow or budgetary constraints.
3.Eventually the government must have a policy on what vehicles the different institutions must own and what vehicles that can be leased.
4.Most government vehicles ply on roads bringing officers to various meetings. It is high time for the extensive use of video conferencing and teleconferencing by various government organisations thus reducing the need to travel and thus reducing the traffic, loss of productive time and also reduce risks.
If these cannot be immediately implemented across all departments some selected ministries should be able to pilot it. The biggest resistance will come from the political leadership who use the public vehicles as their personal property, and drivers who depend more on their batta and overtime and others who benefit from ordering and maintaining vehicles.
Deepal Sooriyaarachchi Colombo.