Only 40 passengers used Mattala

Wednesday, 24 April 2013

Since the opening of the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport on March 18th only about 40 passengers have used the facilities of the airport, sources from the airport said.

The airport was opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa claiming that it would be used as a hub to the South.

However, over a month later, the dismal number of passengers that have used the airport has compelled the administration to keep silent about the passenger movements at the airport.

Airport sources said that the number of immigration and emigration documents handed at the immigration counter would prove the number of passengers.

The poor passenger turn out and the threat of birds crashing on the aircraft have resulted in some airlines that had initially agreed to land in the airport deciding not to include Mattala in their route.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has even made several visits to the airport to personally promote it among the people.

Government takes Rs. 410 billion from banks at 17% interest

Wednesday, 24 April 2013 

The Mahinda Rajapaksa government has taken Rs. 410 billion from local banks at a 17% interest rate.

Head of the JVP’s Inter Company Employees’ Union (ICEU), Wasantha Samarasinghe says the government has borrowed these monies mainly to pay salaries for the state sector.

He explained that the banks are therefore unable to lend monies to the private sector that is heavily engaged in the country’s production process.

“The private sector use the monies borrowed from banks for the production process. However, the monies borrowed by the government are not used for any production purpose. They are mostly used to pay state sector salaries,” he noted.

According to Samarasinghe, the government and institutions like the CPC and CEB have taken loans from the banks and even cashed in on fixed deposits.

Citing an example, Samarasinghe said that Lanka Mineral Sands Limited has had a Rs. 1,250 million fixed deposit that gave the company Rs. 75 million as annual interest and it was used to pay the staff salaries.

“This fixed deposit was taken by the government and the company is now heading towards a financial crisis,” he observed.