Gazettes; a pathway to corruption : AKD

COLOMBO (News1st): The government is using gazettes to pave the way for fraud and corruption, opposition lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said. The Jathika Jana Balawegaya leader argued that the government had issued a gazette to reduce Special Commodity Levy on coconut from Rs 150 to Rs 125, allowing its close allies to line their pockets. "If a levy is imposed under the Special Commodity Levy Act, it cannot be amended until a month passes. But the finance minister had issued another gazette in two weeks...," Dissanayake pointed out. Citing another incident, the JJB leader observed that the government had issued gazettes to amend the Special Commodity Levy on imported sugar as well. "The tax on imported sugar was fixed at 50 rupees. But it was immediately slashed down to 25 cents," he said. Dissanayake insisted that the government had been deprived of revenue worth more than Rs 10 billion by the 10th of January as a result of these moves. "...gazettes are being used as a pathway to fraud and corruption," he said.