Letters to the Editor
View(s):The hope that high-cost govt. vehicles will not ply the roads again
In recent days, the vehicle display at Galle Face was the cynosure of all eyes, as a large number of returned luxury vehicles had been parked there in full public view.
Most of those vehicles are fuel guzzling, power-packed jeeps, cars or pickups, many with eight cylinder ( V 
engines. They are so expensive to run that no ordinary person can use them, unless some other entity like the government foots the fuel bill and other maintenance costs, exactly as has happened in respect of these vehicles which had been liberally and lavishly used by political appointees of many sorts, at no cost to them.
The headlines in the newspapers on October 1, was that among the above vehicles, there is a Porsche Cayenne, a number of Mercedes Benz 300s, Toyota Land Cruiser V8s, and Toyota Land Cruiser Prados, all of which had been imported by the Government, at great cost.
Many options for future use of these vehicles had been discussed.
In the first instance, assigning these vehicles to government institutions that are short of vehicles, had been one idea that had been mooted, but this will surely be taboo, since in such a situation, the very high costs of running them will be virtually met by the people at large, meaning from the public budget.
Government institutions will do well if they are compelled to use only utility vehicles where officials can travel in reasonable comfort economically, sans luxury which is unaffordable for the public purse.
A better option for utilising these vehicle resources in my view, is for the Government to sell them transparently by calling for public tender or public auction, so that individuals, companies, hotels, tourist agencies or any other non government agencies with buying capacity of their own could competitively buy them and use them, leaving the government coffers with the total proceeds which could be used for alternative purposes.
If this can be done, those who will use these vehicles will be meeting the full cost on their own.
It is sincerely hoped that saner counsel will prevail and that the new administration which up to now appears to be putting many things right will make sure that these prohibitively high-cost vehicles will not ply the roads again at government cost.
Hoping sincerely for the best for Sri Lanka in the years ahead.
A. Bedgar Perera Via email
Post election musings
2024 Presidential Election is over peacefully
One of the best we had in five decades
Voter showed his democratic rights peacefully
Post-election joy was shown harmoniously
2022 we were a bankrupt nation on world map
2024 our country crawled out of bankruptcy
Ranil must get the credit for that task
Sir, thanks for bringing us out of financial ruin
Majority voted Anura (AKD) to lead the nation
No magic wand as mentioned in his maiden speech
Only a crown of thorns on his head
Sir, be a statesman not a politician to win the battle
Lal Kodituwakku Bandarapola, Kiula
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