The decision to replace all 10 lifts in the Parliament at a whopping cost of Rs. 100 million has drawn sharp rebuke from MPs themselves, who believe that the public funds could be better utilised.
JVP Parliamentarian Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa told the Sunday Observer when the country’s economy is not in a stable position, it was not fair to spend this staggering figure to install new lifts. They have to climb only two flights of stairs and most of them can use them.
Jayatissa said that the expenditure was going to be incurred all because one lift had been overloaded and went out of order as 13 MPs crowded into it. “Except for one MP, all the others in the lift were Joint Opposition MPs. When they were in power, they even governed the country without any respect for rule of law and financial regulations. Therefore, these JO MPs might think that even these lifts can be used as they please ,” Jayatissa quipped.
The report on the elevator that malfunctioned in Parliament handed over to the Speaker, has recommended that all ten lifts including one service lift be replaced. It would cost nearly Rs.100 million to install the ten lifts. The OTIS Company which has also conducted an investigation on the technical aspects of the lifts has said that they could not give a 100 per cent guarantee that a similar breakdown would not occur in the future since the existing lifts were over 36 years old, Serjeant-at-Arms of the Parliament Narendra Fernando told the Sunday Observer yesterday.