Kurunegala Mayor to purchase luxury car worth over Rs 21mn

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Recently, the Colombo Municipal Council’s Standing Committee on Finance approved a proposal to increase the basic allowance of a councillor by 125%. It seems like the CMC is not the only MC that it attempting to take care of it's councillors. It is now reported that the Mayor of the Kurunegala Municipal Council is preparing to procure a luxury Jaguar car worth more than Rs. 20 Million. Thushara Sanjeewa of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna currently serves as the Mayor of Kurunegala. Ironically the distance from the Mayor's residence to the Municipal Council is almost 600 meters and activists have questioned the purpose of wasting millions of public funds to procure such a vehicle. Kurunegala is the third largest district in the country with 10% of unemployment, and 20% of its population lacking basic infrastructure facilities - these figures were revealed following a survey carried out by the Gammadda Door to Door Campaign. Expressing views on the matter, Wayamba Provincial Councillor, Namal Karunarathne questioned if the mayor really has the need to obtain a vehicle worth Rs. 21.5 million to carry out his duties. Karunaratne also revealed that in addition to his luxury car, the Mayor of Kurunegala has also decided to use council funds to purchase a van worth around Rs 9 million. Karunaratne stated that in a backdrop where the Prime Minister of this country spends Rs 600 million on procuring 2 cars for himself, it is no surprise that Mayors are acting in such a way. The provincial councilor also listed out a number of instances of wasteful spending such as purchasing chairs worth Rs 650,000 for the Western Provincial Council, using Rs 5.9 million to renovate the toilet of the CMC mayor.