227 vehicle permits for 225 members of Parliament

Colombo (News1st): Secretary of the Government Medical Health Association Dr. Haritha Aluthge adressing a media briefing today criticized the recent decision by the Minister of finance to restrict the issuing of vehicle permits for MPs. While noting that the Government's plan is to recover from the current economic crisis through the restriction of imports, Dr. Aluthge criticized the decision to stop issuing vehicle permits for MPs as merely a cosmetic decision which seems to be a people friendly one at first glance. According to Dr. Aluthge, all 225 members of parliament had imported vehicles using their permits. He went on to note that while there are only 225 members of parliament a total of 227 vehicle permits had been issued by the Government. While calling on the general public to inquire into how two additional permits were issued, the Secretary of the GMOA revealed that over 100 of these permits issued to parliamentarians had been sold off. He also revealed that even the minister of finance had sold his vehicle permit.