General election estimated to cost more than Rs. 7 bn

COLOMBO (News1st): The cost for Sri Lanka's general election is likely to soar above Rs 7 billion due to the impact of COVID-19, senior election officials said. "The treasury had allocated seven billion rupees for the 2020 general election based on the estimate we had submitted to them," Saman Sri Ratnayake, the director-general of the Elections Secretariat told News1st. However, he noted that costs are likely to increase while implementing safety measures in the country, as the estimate had been prepared before the outbreak of the coronavirus. Ratnayake stated that the election body had imported 50,000 face masks from India for employees at its main office and district offices at the cost of Rs 3 million. "We will have to incur additional expenses to provide the same to those at voting centres, counting centres, and officials of other state departments involved in this process," he said. The director-general said that the national election commission is most likely to request the treasury for more funds to conduct the poll. The parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held on June 20.