“Govt. has to make fuel price hikes to cover up its corruption, mismanagement and malpractices, not for any other reason”

(May 26, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Speaking to the Media on today, (26May) , UNP Parliamentarian Gayantha Karunatileke said this Govt. since its advent has created a number of unenviable records , and ,the unfortunate thing about these achievements is that none of them was for the benefit of the country or the people . All these record breaking (Negative) performances have only helped the Govt. to deceive and burden the people.

Referring to the steep hike on fuel prices from today, he said, in just two years of its coming to power, it has increased the fuel prices 13 times, and this last increase is the biggest ever in the whole history of Sri Lanka!-Petrol going up by Rs. 30.00 per litre, Diesel by Rs. 20.00 per litre and Kerosene by Rs. 10.00 per litre.

Isn’t this the Govt. in its much publicized and boasted Mahinda Chintana at last elections state categorically that it will not allow the World market to dictate its local market prices , and even if the World market prices rise , it will keep the fuel prices low ?.
Did n ‘t the President say , he has bosom friends in the Middle East who will give fuel and oil cheap , and people will have nothing to worry ? Now, even when the World market prices do not rise, and even when they fall, the Govt. on false excuses continues to raise the fuel prices unconscionably and unreasonably.

He explained how the UNP during its 2 ½ year tenure in Office systematically controlled the fuel prices without burdening the people. By a well judged and planned price formula it did not allow the price of fuel to rise by more than Rs. 2.50 per litre on any occasion. Besides, 6 times it brought down the fuel prices while only 7 times it raised them to maintain the equilibrium alongside the World market fluctuations, he asserted.

This is a Govt. on the contrary, which is resorting to even arithmetical frauds to cover up the price calculation when raising fuel prices, let alone its countless frauds in other areas of its governance, he exclaimed. Detailing the price computation, he explained that when the Govt. imported in April, a barrel of crude oil was 130 US$ when multiplied by Rs. 108.00 (rupee equivalent of a Dollar) is Rs.14040.00. As each barrel contains159 litres of oil, one litre of oil when it reaches the Harbour is Rs. 88.00 only

After adding all the taxes, levies , overheads, Distributor commissions and Vat , petrol can still be easily be given at Rs. 120.00 per litre , so are others. Then why these steep price hikes, he asked.

Obviously, these price hikes are necessitated, because the Govt. has to extort from the people and over burden them to maintain its over loaded Cabinet of Ministers, cover up its corruption, Govt. wastages, mismanagement and malpractices. Mihin Air is one of the examples of Govt.’s colossal wastages sending people’s money to the tune of Rs. 7000.
- Sri Lanka Guardian