• Rs7.8 million was to be spent on one ambulance which the present government was planning to get. It is possible to get around 400 ambulances if Rs3.7 billion was actually used for ambulances

By Yohan Perera 

The government would have purchased 400 ambulances if it utilised the amount it was going to spend for luxury vehicles, an SJB MP said yesterday. Daily Mirror learns that the government was going to spend Rs 3.7 billion to import luxury vehicles for the MPs and ministers. 

Responding to a question raised by Daily Mirror SJB MP Harsha de Silva said the government can save a huge amount of funds if it has cancelled the importation of luxury vehicles as Minister Rambukwella said. 
“Also Rs 3.7 billion includes additional costs as well and not only the vehicles alone,” he also said. 
According to Dr. de Silva Rs7.8 million was to be spent on one ambulance which the present government was planning to get. It is possible to get around 400 ambulances if Rs3.7 billion was actually used for ambulances. 
Daily Mirror reliably learns that as per the general procedure, the manufacturing of vehicles starts towards the end of the second month after the order is placed. The first one or two months are usually spent on correspondence. Therefore, the cancellation of the order is always a possibility. 

• Rs 3.7 billion includes additional costs as well and not only the vehicles alone