Right of reply

Inferred insinuation baseless

Let us first express our appreciation about the concern for the quality of rations supplied to the forces. There is no doubt that they should get the best. 

In this light, it is implied in the article of November 8 that Glucose (Glucolin) supplied to the Army is outdated and such supplies are made intentionally. This inferred insinuation is false and baseless. 

Glucose has been supplied to the Army for several years. It is supplied on tender. The product is supplied in 50 gm high density polyethylene sachets without a carton exclusively to the Army. This is because it was agreed that supply be made without the carton. The contents are likely to be consumed in a day or two at most. The packs available in the market are l00mg and 400mg high density polyethylene sachets inserted in a carton. 

Glucolin (all packs) i.e., those supplied to the Army as well as for general consumption, are packed under highly controlled conditions and conform to international standards namely, BP, USP, Ph, Eur. 

The raw and packing materials for all products including Glucolin are quality tested. All suppliers of local packing are audited by Glaxo Wellcome Quality Auditors. Similarly, all products including Glucolin are subject to quality testing before release to the market. This ensures stringent quality control before, during and after packing. It is for this reason that batch and manufacturing details of packing material are specified on requirement, thereby facilitating traceability if and when required. The details indicated on the sachet referred to in the article were the batch number and the date of manufacture of the sachet and not the contents in conformance with Glaxo Wellcome's requirement for packaging material. 

All expiry dates and batch details of the 50 gm sachets supplied to the Army are indicated in the corrugated outer containing 250 sachets. This is due to each individual sachet not being packed in cartons in the case of the consumer packs where the batch numbers/expiry details are marked on the carton. The contents of the sachet referred to in the article, had been manufactured during the period July and September 1997 and hence has got a further two years before being rendered unfit for consumption. 

The water activity of the lab samples of these batches together with samples of packs which had been stored for 3 years and are due to expire have been tested at the Glaxo Wellcome Laboratory using a sophisticated instrument which is also used for testing water activity in tablets manufactured at our site. The results showed an activity in the range of 0.3 - 0.5 which is well within specifications. However, it must be mentioned that the possibility of contamination of any food is likely if kept open in unfavourable conditions for long periods of time. 

As far as the lumpiness is concerned, fine particles of Dextrose Monohydrate (Glucose particles) will tend to cluster on storage resulting in lumpiness and sometimes hardening. This phenomenon is quite normal and is mainly due to compaction. 

Glucolin was supplied to the Army virtually at cost and was more a service than a commercial transaction. 

Incidentally, Glaxo Wellcome does not supply Glucose to any outside contractor for packaging in aluminium foil for supply to the Army. Glaxo Wellcome has not been supplying Glucose since May this year. 

Will there ever be sanity in this chaotic House

By Dilrukshi Handunnetti- Our Lobby Correspondent

As luck would have it, this also coincided with the fourth year celebrations of President Kumaratunga and this was cause for celebration for the slumbering opposition which decided to celebrate in its own style- with posters, placards and jeering inside the House. 

Though the tragi- comedies dominated a week meant for economic analysis than trading of insults-seriously insulting the intelligence of the public condemned to suffer the antics of our chosen representatives, Thursday's performance perhaps was the worst, what with Government members wilfully crossing over the great divide to forcibly remove posters of UNPers and an equally errant Opposition strewing slices of bread on the isle- to lie in an inelegant heap- symbolic of the present Parliament's dropping standards. 

What the country's most hollowed institution has become is anybody's guess, as crumpled posters and bread slices could only prompt people to quickly draw parallels between Parliament and a stinking municipal garbage dump. 

The debate from the beginning was doomed. And the fireworks commenced on Tuesday with UNPers displaying posters and throwing their Budget speeches to the isle in an angry protest over a 'wrongly calculated budget'- the worst budgetary faux pas in the history of budgetary making according to Ronnie de Mel, who argued there was no premise for debating wrong accounts. 

Minister Lakshman Jayakody's protestations that the UNP never had complete and flawless budgets and Prof. Peiris' pledges to have some alternative proposal to cover up the shortfall of Rs. 300m fell on deaf years compelling the Speaker to suspend sittings for 15 minutes. 

Theatrics apart, when A.C.S. Hameed opened the debate a little later, he was greeted by members on both sides with equal enthusiasm who enjoyed the gentle thrust and parry of the pint sized former rowing minister- affectionately referred to as 'All Countries Seen' -symbolic of his portfolio of yesteryears. 

From the presentation stage, this Budget encountered more obstacles than any other, and hence its comparison to a 'strip tease' by the Opposition was taken in good stead. And Hameed did it better when he compared the eloquence of Prof. Peiris in budget presenting as a salesman trying to sell a ramshackle vehicle. 

"Your Ministers are absconding, those vociferous persons who have been marginalsied by the budget Where is C.V., Mahinda and the rest. There were no allocations made for them and hence there conspicuous absence. Here, the thrust was to award the rich and stifle the poorer sections. Volvos would come cheaper but not the common van of the ordinary folk. For whose benefit do you govern and make budgets sir," he asked, baiting the government. 

And the MP sniped that the PA had nothing concrete to show for four years, no Mahaweli, no factories, roads or any other. And having condemned the UNP for alleged financial mismanagement, the PA has issued Treasury Bills to the value of Rs. 125 billion and this they shrouded in secrecy. 

But the Government was not going to be shot down by a few caustic comments and flying saucer type budget speeches. When Mahaweli Minister Maithripala Sirisena settled to speak, he tore the UNP to shreds, listing its many sins with fervour. 

The national clad minister had no qualms when he held the brief quite openly for the Government, illustrating the many achievements of the PA and illustrating the misdeeds of the past. 

It was the UNP which ruled (or misruled) the country for over 30 years, and if the country was damned it was the UNP's doing and could not be blamed on another, he noted. It was the UNP which caused moral degradation and decency with thugs operating from political platforms. And the end result was our dwindling humanity. 

"Who killed the Dimbulagala Thero chorused the Opposition and the minister responded without batting an eye-lid that it was UNP supporters themselves who brought the end to the revered monk's life. 

Following suit was UNP's John Amaratunge who freely dished out advice to minister Sirisena- from avoiding putting his foot in his mouth to insulting the public by false innuendo. 

"This budget was truly a pain and failed to accord any relief to the already overburdened masses- the worst out of five budgets. This no-no budget was a non event and from the start, contravened all traditions of budgetary making. A malady stemming from the good minister's impracticability was the proposals that should never have reached draft stage; something that could have saved a lot of embarrassment to the Government" he said, and angry PA back benchers shouted him down in a hurry. 

The burly member for Gampaha noted with concern the TULF 's decision to withdraw support for the government and the general feeling of disenchantment among the Tamil political parties regarding lack of initiative- no development programmes, their economy still doing bad, no proper allocations and the non-resolution of the ethnic question. 

Instead, the Government on bended knees implemented IMF dictates ignoring the fact that such advice has often backfired. And the worst was the report titled "An Agenda for year 2000" which advocates removal of subsidies, cost recovery education, railway fare increase, privatisation of plantations and the alarming proposal to freeze recruitments to the public service! 

Coming out with heavy financial jargon ( best understood only by economists and financial types) was UNP's Mahinda Samarasinghe. 

In a speech heavily spiced with economic realities, he painted a bleak picture for Mother Lanka in the event we refuse to devalue the rupee to more realistic terms than maintaining a higher value at great risk. 

Deraniyagala member R.A.D. Sirisena was next, explaining the ground realities of a 'five star budget'- something detrimental to the beetle chewing villagers in his backward electorate. And he paid a handsome compliment to Minister Fowzie for effectively shooting down the revenue proposal to increase railway fares by a mammoth 25%, and government benchers applauded the comment with gusto. 

Former agricultural minister Dharmadasa Banda was next firing his round of salvos. Positively on a demolition course, he raised the legitimate query as to why a miserly Rs.5,000 was offered to overseas returnees in place of the customary baggage allowance. It was reluctantly resorted once faced with vehement opposition from all quarters, this too in rupee value and after realisation dawned that it was politically imprudent to do so," he thundered. 

Treading the middle path with the occasional jibe at the Opposition was Science and Technology Minister Batty Weerakoon who noted it was a welcome move to break away from the garment industry mentality and to move towards a high tech era. While admitting the GST was burdensome to the general public, he said the UNP had a reputation for imprudence and imposed heavy people- unfriendly taxes on the public. 

"The UNP replaced the ration books with food stamps. The right of the people to have rations was reduced to a mere poor relief measure and Janasaviya was merely the glorification of this. And the tinkering job continued," he said on a tragic note. 

Terming the budget as the worst during post independence was controversial MP Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene who claimed the entire budgetary process had been devalued by the withdrawal of two revenue proposals within a day. And the minister has lavished concessions on the rich Volvo and Mercedes types ignoring the men who pay through their noses to make vehicle purchases. 

Perhaps the best parliamentary contribution was by Ports Minister M.H. M. Ashraf who pleaded for sanity in a house divided by petty politicking. 

In a thought provoking speech, the Minister claiming that there was no cause for jubilation over the budget, said once two main revenue proposals were dropped, it did not merit parliamentary debate. 

And next, he was comparing the house to a boxing ring with members being at each other's throats. Even the physical arrangement of Parliament was not conducive to unity among members, and the divisions were such that it triggered off supporters to scratch each others' eyes out over petty political grounds at grass root level. 

"We have long ceased to be a deliberative assembly of responsible people, and it has become a talk shop of no consequence. We shout for the sake of it, desiring that our hypocritical fights get publicity through media and this influenced our supporters and they kill each other for our sake," he noted with concern, appealing for a vibrant democracy in which, all members shine and make worthy contributions. 

But, nothing could be more symbolic than what took place in parliament on Thursday with Opposition members displaying placards inside the chamber, much to the annoyance of the Speaker. Yet, two hours later when Harold Herath was on his feet, PA's Heen Mahattaya Liyanage demanded from Deputy Speaker Anil Moonesinghe that a ruling be given to remove all such members from the House. 

But Mr. Moonesinghe's request was ignored by a group of aggressive government benchers including Minister Jeyaraj Fernanopulle and several parliamentarians who entered through the doors and moved to cross the isle to forcibly remove the posters . The Opposition shouted "the government is invading the opposition", accusing the PA members of acting like terrorists. The chaos led to the suspension of sittings, again for 15 minutes -time paid for by the poor taxpayers of this country. 

And the debris, if one may call the crumpled posters lying in the middle ( with the subsequent addition of bread slices), was a pathetic reminder of what this country with its rich traditions has become. 

Tamil parties fire at Budget

By Roshan Peiris

If the Budget is not passed, the government will have no money and could be forced to resign, a political observer said. 

Douglas Devananda, leader of the EPDP which has nine seats in Parliament said, "We have yet not given our decision about voting for the Budget or not. We have given some proposals to the government and are awaiting a reply." He declined to give any details. 

The main Tamil Party, the TULF, which has five seats in Parliament has also decided to vote against the Budget. 

A spokesman said the protracted military confrontation had caused incalculable suffering to the Tamil people. 

He said the TULF has previously voted against the Defence Ministry votes at the Committee stage but voted in favour of the old Budget. 

At the recent meeting of the Central Committee it was decided that the party should now oppose the Budget as a whole as the defence vote constitutes an integral and important component of the expenditure estimates. "This is to primarily reiterate the party's continuing opposition to the intensification of the protracted military confrontation, but the TULF also reaffirm the party's commitment to the Constitutional reform exercise and its efforts towards peace and reconciliation," he said. 

Suresh Premachandran, Secretary General of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front said, "Though I am not in Parliament our party and the Tamil people are greatly concerned over the increase of the defence levy." 

He said, "As far as the Tamil people are concerned the proposal to increase the defence levy from 4.5% to 5.5% and Rs. 50 billion allocated for defence expenditure are clear indications that the government does nor have the slightest intention of ending the war and search for a peaceful political settlement to the national question. It is unfortunate that a government which came to power four years ago with the overwhelming support of the Tamil people and talked about the peace dividends to be enjoyed by the people is now imposing taxes on the people to wage a war against a section of its people. 

"Although the Foreign Minister roams the world reiterating the government's commitment to peace this Budget which gives priority to the pursuit of war rather than to development and other needs of the people will not convince even the strongest apologist of the government of its commitment to peace in this country. 

"Apart from that it will not convince the LTTE of the government's desire for peace. On the contrary it will only strengthen the age-old suspicion they have about the true intentions of the Sri Lanka state in regard to Tamils. We are totally opposed to the Budget proposals," he said. 

K. Siddharthan, leader of PLOTE which has two members in Parliament was not available for comment. 

Price drop in luxury cars

By Nilika de Silva

Although the duty reduction on vehicles has been made across the board, the difference in prices before and after the budget is felt in the case of luxury vehicles such as Pajeros, Benzes and Volvos. 

Marketing Manager, Swedish Trading Co. Ltd., Dharshan Senaratne said the prices of Volvo cars before the budget ranged from Rs. 4.5 million upwards and now the prices range upwards from Rs. 2.5 million. An official of a company importing vehicles in Colombo said duty reduction on Pajeros is about Rs.15 to 20 lakhs. He said these prices depended on the value of the Yen which has gone up from Rs. 45 to Rs. 55 within the last few weeks. Reduction of vehicle prices by the budget is eaten up by the increase in the Yen, he said. 

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