Ministers to forego half their salary

Manjula Fernando

COLOMBO: All Ministers have decided to donate half their monthly pay to the State for a six month period.

“This will not make a big difference but it was done as a gesture of solidarity,” Cabinet Spokesman Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa told the weekly Cabinet Briefing yesterday. The decision was taken unanimously when the Cabinet met on Wednesday, Chaired by President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees.

He said they were hopeful that MPs will also follow suit.

They decided to donate 25 per cent of the salary to the State a few weeks back.

“With this decision, our salary has been slashed by around 75 per cent.”

Discussions are also on to explore the possibility of further reducing the State sector costs, the Minister said, adding that an over-sized Cabinet will be a natural phenomenon in all future Governments in Sri Lanka.

“We are a coalition comprising so many political parties. This is something we cannot avoid if we are to ensure a stable Government, I think this will be the general trend in all future Governments,” Minister Yapa expressed.

He refuted the argument that the burden on the State to support a fat Cabinet was contributing to the rising cost of living. “This is a popular political slogan,” he said.

The minister said the country runs on an excessive welfare account and to continue these relief facilities in Health, Education, Transport and Electricity the Government had to spend billions of rupees.

The expenditure on the Cabinet as a percentage of welfare costs was very low. He said the annual budget for the Cabinet is Rs.800 million.

The Ministers’ fuel allowance has now been cut. “There was no such limit on our fuel bill in our first Cabinet.”

Following the recent increase in world fuel prices a limit was imposed on Ministers fuel bills. This limit was not altered with the recent oil price hike.