There was a front page story with a banner headline, saying “Government Withdraws Bonus to Senior Citizens” – the 20 per cent interest on savings of senior citizens had been withdrawn.
The government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Governor of the Central Bank, Ajith Nivad Cabraal, should be reminded that in the run-up to the Presidential Elections, senior citizens were invited to Temple Trees to a five-star lunch. At this lunch, at which the Central Bank Governor was present, President Rajapaksa announced that a 20 per cent interest on senior citizens’ savings would be given, to help senior citizens affected by a drop in interest rates in banks.
I cannot understand how the Central Bank can distance itself from the government order. If the Central Bank could not offer this payment, the bank’s Governor should not have given any assurances in the first place, and put President Mahinda Rajapaksa in an awkward situation.
To add insult to injury, a senior Central Bank official says: “Inflation and the cost of living have come down, and we believe such a bonus scheme is not necessary now.”
We senior citizens and all the citizens of this country can only say: “Api kana heti, lipa dani” – what we eat only the hearth knows.
We read in the newspapers of mothers abandoning their children, parents committing suicide because they cannot feed their children, of murders, snatch thieves, ransoms, and so on. People are desperate because they have no money.
We miss the great statesmen of the past, people like D. S. Senanayake, Dudley Senanayake, Sir John Kotelawala, Sir Razeek Fareed, T. B. Jayah, the Ponnambalams – all people who served the country and the people.
Angry Senior Citizen,
Homagama. |
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