Its official - Sri Lankan troops capture Kilinochchi

What a start to 2009 its for Sri Lanka as a country. Within an hour before the dawn of the new year troops captured Paranthan and a few minutes ago the Sri Lankan government made an official news release stating the fall of Kilinochchi. I would like to thank all those who shed there blood and laid down their lives during this endeavor.

Well it was like the dawn of another year with fire crackers firing all over the place. That shows how much the public embraces this important moment.

Now to the other side of the story, in Sri Lanka everything has a political influence. And I'm sure the government will use this to there utmost advantage. Even during the speech made by the President he asked all people of this country to make a sacrifice so that this war could be finished soon. Well thats a fair enough statement but why cant the government make a sacrifice too?. The government is maintaining over 100 ministries (Mind you Sri Lanka is a small country with just over 20 million people) and no moves have been made to cut down the waste made by these ministers. They keep spending our tax money and enjoy a luxurious life and expect the poor tax payers of this country to make sacrifices.

Well a good example is the fuel crisis in Sri Lanka. A few weeks ago the supreme court ordered that petrol be sold at Rs. 100 a liter and that the tax charged on petrol should not exceed a 100%. At the time of this verdict petrol was Rs. 122 a liter. The response of the government to this situation was turning a blind eye on the verdict of the supreme court. On the eve of the new year the government announced that they would reduce petrol by Rs. 2 and that it cannot reduce it further due to the high expense incurred on the war. Well true enough, the expenditure on defense matters is high and we can see the benefits of it, but has any measures been taken to cut down on the unnecessary expenditures made by the government? Is it just the poor tax payers of this country that should make all the sacrifices? Motor vehicles in Sri Lanka carry a tax of around 300%-400%, and all ministers are given tax permits to bring down luxury vehicles. These luxury vehicles are very high in fuel consumption and even the fuel is provided by the government (or by tax payers money). Now Mr President, why not cut down on those cost? Why not get your ministers to make sacrifices?