Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister Ruwan Senarath says development will speed up with 2,000 shiny new cabs for state officials, because apparently, vehicles matter more than fixing the crumbling basics.
Deputy Minister Ruwan Senarath announced that the government is preparing to import two thousand cabs in the first quarter of next year, allocating them to heads of state institutions in the name of accelerating grassroots development. He made these remarks while addressing a ceremonial gathering, emphasizing that the vehicles are crucial for officials to travel easily to villages and oversee development work.
The Deputy Minister claimed that officials need reliable transportation to implement projects effectively and insisted that every institution will benefit from the new cabs. He further added that machinery such as backhoes will also be brought in to assist local government institutions in executing projects at the village level. According to him, funds have already been allocated, and the government plans to acquire the necessary equipment this year and next.
While the proposal has been framed as essential for development, critics are likely to question whether spending on imported cabs is the wisest move at a time when the public faces inflation, rising utility costs, and inadequate basic services. Still, officials insist this investment in mobility will somehow translate into progress at the grassroots.
