10 October 2023 09:08 pm Views - 1735
Why is a State Minister paying MP Namal Rajapaksa's electricity bills?
And more importantly, will the Minister be paying other people's bills too?
Flashback to August, when the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) responding to a Right to Information request said that it had borne a cost of Rs. 2,682 246.57 to supply electricity for a function held at former President Mahinda Rajapaksas Weeraketiya residence.
The function in question was the lavish wedding of MP Namal Rajapaksa held in 2019.
Rajapaksa responding to mounting criticisms, said that he never received a bill from the CEB. He claimed that the electricity was requested, and not by him, for security purposes of former President Maithripala Sirisena, and not for the wedding itself.
However, State Minister Sanath Nishantha last week still felt the need to visit the CEB to discuss this issue, following the mounting criticism on MP Rajapaksa, and said that he had settled the massive electricity bill once and for all.
With electricity tariffs at a record high in Sri Lanka, it's only natural that these questions are asked.
If MP Rajapaksa does not believe he should be paying a bill that he did not receive, then why did the State Minister pay the bill?
All 2,682 246.57 ruppees of it.
Sadly, despite receiving over 1500 Minister Nishantha will not be paying the electricity bills of low income members of the SLPP. He called media reports to this effect as JVP conspiracies.
Whether the additional electricity was requested by MP Rajapaksa or not, it was for the security detail for a guest of his wedding, which comes from the defence budget – in other words, taxpayer money.
So it begs the question, if MP Rajapaksa says he does not see need to pay for it, why does Minister Nishantha feel the need to?
And should he really have expected the taxpayer to pay for it? Share your thoughts in the comments.