VIDEO: CHOGM was an expensive ‘photo op’ with the Prince - Tissa
November 18, 2013 03:04 pm
The United National Party today stated that the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which just concluded in Sri Lanka was similar to a human rights summit and that the government hosted it only for the photo opportunity with the Prince of Wales.
The Commonwealth summit was only an opportunity for the President to sit down and get a picture taken with Britain’s Prince Charles, UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said.
“Sri Lanka has gained nothing else,” he said.
He alleged that Sri Lanka has become the country which has spent the most amount of money to snap a group photo with the heir to the British throne.
The government says it has no money to increase the wages of private sector and public sector employees, but they are spending large sums of money to “cut Prince Charles’s birthday cake”.
The government has spent over Rs 50 million for fireworks and shows, however farmer pension has not been paid for 2 years, he said.
The UNP questioned whether it is justifiable for the government, which says it does not have sufficient funds to compensate disabled soldiers and the families of deceased war heroes, to spend millions on a summit the people of the country did not ask for.
