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Indian vehicle imports to be expedited By Shelani
Perera The request
has been made as usually purchases under a line of credit take a
longer period as many procedures have to be followed. Since the
vehicles are being given under a loan scheme, before issuing the
Letter of Credit the bank (Bank of Ceylon) has to communicate with
the Indian High Commission which has to then communicate with the
Indian Finance and Commerce Ministry which would report back to
the Bank of Ceylon, after which the LC will be issued. A Parliamentary
Affairs Ministry official told The Sunday Times they have requested
the principal Indian manufacturer to commence production even before
the LC is issued. "Three
types of vehicles are to be imported for the use of Parliamentarians.
They are Tata Safari, Scorpio and Maruti. We will import more than
50% of Tata Safari and 40% of Scorpio. We want the vehicles to be
brought within the next two months, whereas under the normal procedure
it would take more than four months" the official said. Under the Indian
Credit Line the Government can import Indian capital goods, consumer
durables, wheat flour, sugar, rice, grain and red lentils. Consultancy
services are also available. The credit
line amounting to 100 million US dollars is for 15 years, to be
paid in 20 instalments, with a 5 year grace period. Although there
is no restriction by the Indian government as to the goods purchased,
all items must be of 90% Indian origin, at least. Meanwhile of the
225 Parliamentarians only 13 MPs have refused the vehicles. Among
those who have refused are Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe,
Karu Jayasuriya, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Arumugan Thondaman and 9
JVP members. Ministers Milinda Moragoda and K.N. Choksy have opted
for Maruti vehicles. Apart from
the vehicle bonanza parliamentarians who have completed five years
are eligible for fax machines, photocopiers and computers. All three
items at valued at Rs. 295,000. Thirteen MPs are entitled to computers, 60 for photocopiers and 61 for fax machines. Speaker Joseph
Michael Perera agreed on Friday to appoint a committee to look into
an appeal by Parliamentary Affairs Minister A.H.M.Azwer for renovations
to the Parliament building . Minister Azwer
told Parliament on Friday that some of the lifts in the building
were not working properly and the carpeting had got discoloured
and needed to be replaced. Last week another
government legislator Sarathchandra Rajakaruna called on the Speaker
to inquire and report to the House on the sound system that has
been installed in the chamber at great expense which is proving
to be unsatisfactory. It is more than 20 years since the legislature was shifted to Sri Jayawardhanapura. Last week's power failure during sessions also prompted several members to request the Speaker to inquire into what had caused the disruption and inform the House as valuable time had been lost with sittings being suspended for more than 40 minutes. Request to settle Sinhala displaced in North and East The Eastern
Sinhala Organisation, consisting of Buddhist monks handed over a
petition to President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Thursday requesting
her to assist in resettling displaced Sinhala people in the North
and East. The petition
was also addressed to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. In a letter
to the President the Organisation states that the government should
take immediate steps to resettle the civilians with due compensation.
Giving a break-
down of the number of displaced civilians, the petition states the
government has neglected the Sinhala people. It states 36,519
civilians have been displaced from Jaffna district, 5921 from Mullaitivu,
13,002 from Mannar, 11,643 from Vavuniya, 51,699 from Trincomalee
and 17,903 from Batticaloa. It has also stated that the Government has neglected places of religious worship in the North and East with 21 out of the 273 temples in Jaffna district needing urgent attention.
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