The Kandy Municipal Council (KMC) has decided unanimously that taxes due on hoardings erected by 15 named commercial firms during the Kandy Esala Perahera, cannot be waived, on the grounds they are helping to publicise the Sri Dalada Maligawa and the Kandy Perahera.
At the meeting of the KMC held on July 28, Mayor L.B.Aluvihare, who presided tabled two letters - one from the Diyawadana Nilame Pradeep Nilanga Dela and the other from District Secretary Gotabaya Jayaratne - requesting the Council to waive the taxes of the commercial establishments which would be engaged in publicity drives.
It was the consensus of the Council that under the Municipal Ordinance, the Commissioner is responsible for the finances of the Council and that the Council cannot take any decision to waive taxes due to the Council.
The Mayor said the Council is spending around three million rupees on the Kandy Esala Perahera for community services and could ill afford to waive the taxes.The Council directed the Mayor to write to the Diyawadana Nilame and the District Secretary of this decision. | 
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