Has the Budget-making procedure been changed?  Several letters from concerned readers and scathing editorials have appeared in the media regarding the invitation from the Secretary to the President to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for talks with the President. The eagle-eyed Judiciary has rightly declined the invitation, as accepting would compromise the Judiciary’s independence. The [...]

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Has the Budget-making procedure been changed? 

Several letters from concerned readers and scathing editorials have appeared in the media regarding the invitation from the Secretary to the President to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for talks with the President. The eagle-eyed Judiciary has rightly declined the invitation, as accepting would compromise the Judiciary’s independence.

The Secretary to the President had said the invitation was to discuss the 2013 Budget.Budget preparation is a year-round year exercise. When capital expenditure projects are to be included, project reports need to be prepared, giving cost benefits and so on, and submitted to the Development Secretaries Committee for approval.

Then comes the real preparation, when the Ministries prepare their Budget proposals, including recurrent and capital expenditure. The Minister of each Ministry is briefed by his Secretary, and the Ministry’s Budget outline is submitted to the Development Secretaries Committee.

The usual practice is for the Chairman of the Development Secretaries Committee to keep the Treasury in mind and slash the budget with a minimum 10 per cent cut; most Ministries apply for funds far in excess of what they need. The Treasury will inevitably make its own budget cuts.

The second stage also involves the Development Secretaries Committee. This time, each Ministry is taken up individually by the Treasury Budget Division. All Budget items are meticulously reviewed, cuts are invariably made, and some projects rejected. Rejected projects are kept on hold, with a nominal token vote of Rs. 10, in case of savings or under-expenditure during the year. These savings will be transferred with Treasury approval.

This is a summary of the procedure for formulating the annual Budget. It should be noted that the Secretaries to Ministries, who are the Chief Accounting officers, along with their supporting staff, attend the Budget discussions held by the Development Secretaries Committee and the Treasury. The Minister for Finance, who is also the President, does not attend these meetings.
Is the above Budget procedure still in force, or has it been changed? If it has been changed, then do not be surprised if there is wasteful expenditure on unplanned projects.

S. Weerakone, Colombo 5

Bamboo query

Shantha Ramanayake’s interesting piece on bamboo cultivation (Sunday Times, September 30, 2012) prompts the query: Where do we find saplings in order to start cultivating bamboo? Can any reader tell us?

M. Abeygunawardena, Weligama

Evita then: I remember too

Why should TD raise the bugbear of the ‘fickleness of “cultural memory”’ (Sunday Times Oct 7) and claim he might be the only person who recalls the production of Evita in which Michelle Leembruggen played the eponymous role — memorably, too.
I think Graham Hatch was the director. I imagine there are many people who saw that production who would recall it now — if they are still alive! It was around 30 years ago! My own memory is very vivid.

Manel Fonseka, Colombo

A zoo is not an amusement park – the animals are not there to entertain us

I went to the Dehiwala Zoo on a recent Poya Day. I used to go quite frequently, but had not been in a long time. It was fine day and I was glad to have a few hours to enjoy my hobby of observing nature.

There was a large crowd and long queues at the ticket booth. I walked around for a while, then sat on a bench to observe one of my favourite animals, the endangered Orangutan. The animal was perched high on a log railing and enjoying the morning sunshine. A lady sitting on a bench next to mine gave her son a piece of bread.

“Try to get him to come down,” she said. The boy waved the piece of bread at the poor creature. “Throw it to him, then he’ll come down,” the mother said. All those who were standing in front of the cage wanted the animal to come down. In disgust, I got up and left. There was a large notice board right next to the Orangutan’s enclosure that read: “Do Not Feed The Animals. Do Not Tease The Animals.”

I walked around and arrived at the Hippopotamus enclosure. A little hippo was craning its head upwards, and a visitor was dropping Marie biscuits into its open mouth. The poor creature kept opening its mouth to passersby in the hope of getting more biscuits.  The animal was a source of great amusement to the crowd.

Disgusted once again by the visitors’ bad behaviour, I went on my way. I came to the monkey cages. The playful primates usually cheer me up, but on this occasion, I saw a terrible scene. Visitors were tormenting a poor Capuchin monkey. They were poking and prodding the little animal with sticks until it ran to the top of the cage to get away from its tormentors. After that, I left the zoo.

Visitors should remember that the zoo houses wild animals, not domestic pets. They require a specialised diet based on what they would eat in the wild. Bread and Marie biscuits are not a part of any wild animal’s diet. Feeding the animals such things can cause indigestion and make the animals sick.

Any wild animal’s preferred habitat would be the wild, not a cage.  These animals are not there by choice. They were caught and brought to the zoo. They are prisoners of the zoo. Because we destroy their natural habitat, they end up in zoos. It is by no means a wonderful life for these caged creatures. If given the option, an animal would choose the wild over a zoo cage, no matter how harsh that natural habitat may be.

Last, and most important, please do not think animals are kept in a zoo to entertain us. A zoo is not an amusement park. A zoo is a conservation effort. We are expected to observe these animals from a distance, show them respect, and admire their grace and beauty. The next time you go to the zoo, please make sure you allow those poor animals to live in peace.

Jayanka de Silva, Moratuwa

Travelling 10 miles to buy an aerogram

Post offices in the suburbs do not sell aerograms, and they do not receive air letters and parcels. We see changes around these post offices: on every 10 perches of land you see a house built with money sent by someone in the family who is employed overseas.
When we need to send an air letter, we have to travel 10 miles to a city post office.

If we want to make Sri Lanka “the miracle to Asia”, we should get rid of non-productive old systems. Facilities available in the city should be available in the suburbs too.

The postal authorities should ensure that parcels sent by post are intact when they reach the recipient. Every parcel we get has been tampered with.

P.A. Binduhewa, Panadura

Armed Forces pensioners equally entitled to special pension

On December 14, 2008, the Cabinet approved an increase in the basic pension of Armed Forces pensioners, but this was cancelled by the Department of National Budget, vide Circular No. BD/GSP/253/8/1 of July 6, 2010. According to the Circular, the increment approved by the Cabinet of Ministers was only for those officers and other rankers who were on duty on the day of the war victory, May 9, 2009, and not for those officers and other rankers who had already completed 22 years of service in the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The Department of National Budget should understand that the war heroes are soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces, and they too are included in the pension category of the Armed Forces. The war heroes too are entitled to the 85 per cent basic pension approved by the Cabinet. It is clear that the Department of National Budget is attempting to avoid any extra expenditure on the Armed Forces pension scheme. The Armed Forces pensioners have given valuable service to the country, and they underwent tremendous hardship for 22 years.

Those who joined the Armed Forces on or after May 20, 2009 are baffled that the Commander-in-Chief, in his capacity of President and Finance Minister, should have endorsed the cancellation of a decision that had been approved by his own Cabinet.

Mahinda Nihal Perera, Moratuwa

Our young graduates expect jobs served up on a platter

Education is free in Sri Lanka, all the way to the completion of a university education. Is it not contemptible then for qualified but unemployed graduates to demand that the State also gives them a job, after giving them a free education? It is a disgrace that these unemployed graduates should resort to massive protests, demanding letters of appointment and stipulating deadlines.

The State is offering land to develop for agricultural and livestock purposes. I spoke to a State Bank, which was very interested in my proposal to set up a poultry farm, and after two days of discussion I was granted a loan, on very reasonable terms. This was a windfall. I read up on poultry farming, became a poultry farmer, and my farm now produces 5,000 fresh eggs a day. On top of that, my farm gives employment to 15 helpers.

My friend too applied for a bank loan, to set up a dairy farm. With assistance and advice from the Livestock Ministry, he has become a successful dairy farmer.

It is pathetic to see young graduates demanding jobs from the State, instead of finding their own way to make a living.

Ray de Silva

Lankan doctors forget that the tax-payer funded their medical education

In our “free” education system, the costs associated with training students for the medical profession are much higher than the costs involved in other areas of education. And it is not FREE, as many of us seem to believe.

It is we, the tax-payers, who foot the bill. As such, we are ENTITLED to the services these “doctors” provide, be it general practice or specialist consultation.

Many in the medical profession who have walked through the halls of our esteemed campuses seem to have forgotten that they are the beneficiaries of our free education system. These “doctors” are obliged to render medical services to those who need them. The majority of the population cannot afford a private practitioner, which makes it all the more necessary that these “doctors” serve the people who need their services.

The authorities should ensure that the products of our medical colleges provide services to those who need them. Releasing them from this obligation would be wrong.

Lucien E, Kotte

Three-wheeler dealers

The letter “Taken for a ride by meter taxis” (October 7, 2012, Sunday Times) tells us how people are duped by unscrupulous three-wheeler drivers. We thought that with the introduction of metered taxis, the ordeal of bargaining over taxi fares was a thing of the past.

Even when taking a metered taxi, we have to check whether the meter is in working order. I recently got into a three-wheeler, and noticed the meter was not switched on. The driver said the meter was not in working order, and I ended up paying the fare the driver demanded.

On another occasion, the driver said he did not switch on the meter for short distances. I ended up paying Rs. 70, instead of the usual Rs. 50 to get home.

If you use a bit of common sense, you can save small amounts on taxi rides. For example, take only those taxis that are heading in the direction you are going. You save a little money by avoiding the extra distance of travel required before you can turn on a one-way route.

Kanagar Raveendran, Wellawatte




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