Spreading the sunshine
May 11, 2013, 6:13 pmThe ability of the political establishment to look after itself and its fellow-travelers was demonstrated anew by last week’s cabinet decision to give provincial councilors who have served more than two and a half years duty free car permits. On top of that, even ex-provincial councilors who had served two and a half years will be entitled to this concession. It wasn’t long ago that the sale of duty free permits issued to MPs to import motor vehicles was officially sanctioned. Such sales, on so-called `open’ papers, were notorious and it was well known that this was common practice even before it was legalized. Those who engaged in such sharp practices were in no way hounded since President Premadasa’s time when a special unit headed by a retired senior police officer was put on the job of harassing some of those who supported the attempt to impeach the then president. Luxury vehicles were stopped on the road and their engine and chassis numbers checked sending an ominous message.
Prohibitive rates of duty on motor car imports that have long been in force in this country have made these duty free or concessional duty permits most attractive. Predictably, politicians holding the ladle in their hands first served themselves the gravy. Senior public servants, including professionals, were quick to jump on the bandwagon. University academics too are now recipients of the privilege as were some long-standing income tax payers who were accorded a duty concession that has since been withdrawn. Time was when public servants, required to do official traveling in their private vehicles, were granted car loans by the government. When money values were different to what they are today, these were generally sufficient to buy either a new or used utility vehicle and often, mileage claimed for official use of privately-owned covered the cost of the monthly loan installments. There were no official drivers then as now and most public servants drove themselves from their homes to their offices, circuits and other official business.
Today the taxpayer picks up a hefty bill on account of the transport cost of the people’s leaders and public officials. We do not know whether the Treasury has quantified what all this costs though we can be certain that it would by far exceed such expenses borne even by many resource rich developed countries. Almost everybody and his brother seem to have an official car and chauffer paid for by the taxpayer or the company. Regardless of the provision of duty free concessions to purchase a car for themselves, the beneficiaries of the perk use their official vehicles, provided by the taxpayer, for all official and most private business. Ministers are particularly well served and have fleets of government-owned, taxpayer funded vehicles at their beck and call. There is no line drawn between public business and private purposes. Values such as those demonstrated by former US President Harry Truman who with his wife, Bess, seated by his side, drove himself home to Missouri following his tenure at the White House are today the stuff of legend. There were no Secret Service guards in attendance during that long ride from Washington to Independence. Truman is reported to have once said that his early choices in life was to be a piano-player in a whorehouse or a politicians ``and to tell the truth there’s not much differences between the two.’’
When the people were hit with the new electricity charges from which the government has now part retreated, this newspaper and others advocated that government functionaries, be they ministers or high officials, living in official residences pay their own electricity bills. Former Minister Mangala Samaraweera said somewhere that when he was a minister living in an official bungalow he paid a thousand rupees on account of the electricity consumed and no more. We would wager that this practice continues – if at all with even the thousand bucks picked up by some vote or the other. Some readers might remember that Samaraweera, while holding cabinet office, got a lift fitted in his official residence for the convenience of his mother who lived with him. We believe the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, then part of his turf, did the job. While we do not begrudge Mrs. Samaraweera, a most gracious lady, the comforts her son could give her, the chances are that if such expenses had to be personally borne and not passed on to the taxpayer, it would not have been too hard to find a ground floor room in one of those palatial bungalows that ministers occupied where an older parent could have been comfortably accommodated.
The bottom line is that basically selfish human nature will almost always serve itself with some happy exceptions like President Truman mentioned earlier. Those who spout loudly in opposition did not or will not do better when in government. But when people are asked to bear hardship, as the public are in the case of sharp increases in electricity charges, their pain would be somewhat alleviated if their leaders too share part of the burden. It can be credibly argued that it is unfair to require a public functionary living in accommodation that he would normally not occupy in his private capacity, be asked to meet all electricity charges in an official residence. Security considerations, for instance, may require lighted gardens at an official bungalow which will not be necessary if the politician had not offered himself to the service of the people. But the people are cynical enough to think that where politicians especially are concerned, it’s all a matter of self-service!
Nobody takes any notice of profligacy in government. The beneficiaries like to think that all the perks they lavish on themselves are merely a fraction of a percentage point of GDP. But ordinary people hard-pressed to meet the cost of living resent such expenditure. But has very little they can do about it. Some leaders, like President Mahinda Rajapaksa, like to spread the sunshine as those who have enjoyed his hospitality at `Temple Trees’ are well aware. They know very well that the wherewithal to pay for it all comes from the public purse rather than the private pocket. But being human, they don’t really care as long as they stand to benefit.