Slash salaries to support daily wage earners, Prasanna Ranatunga proposes to President

• Proposes 75% cut from MPs, 50% from public and private sector and 30% from minor worker salaries during lockdown period
• Claims those who propose to lockdown will not face any financial hardship as they will be paid even if the country is shutdown
• Suggests best course of action is to run the country by imposing strict health regulations
• Says WHO has not recommended short-term lockdown as a solution to overcome the rising COVID cases

Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga has suggested to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in writing to slash salaries in order to support those who rely on daily wages.

“It is easy for every one of us to propose a lockdown, as they all get a fixed salary at the end of each month despite any lockdown. But it is not the case for the majority of people when the country is locked up, families who do not receive a monthly salary face severe hardships,” the Minister said in a letter to the President yesterday. 

Ranatunga suggests slashing 75% of the salary of parliamentarians, 50% from the public and private sector (except healthcare sector) and 30% from minor labourers during the period of the lockdown, so as to support daily wage earners.

He said that the Government would have to allocate a huge amount of money to pay for the salaries, which are being paid utilising tax funds, adding that the trade unions who are proposing to lockdown the country would not face any financial hardship as they would be paid even if the country was locked down.

He also claimed that the Opposition had forgotten that they had handed over the Government an empty treasury after “they robbed the Central Bank in broad daylight” with the Bond scam.

“Religious leaders, including members of the Maha Sangha, are joining the Opposition’s campaign to lockdown the country. The Opposition is screaming without a proper purpose or a vision and is waiting to gain a petty political gain in the guise of the pandemic,” Ranatunga alleged.

Commending all frontline workers for their tremendous service in risking their lives to save others, Ranatunga also said a complete lockdown would limit their service as they could not be forcibly called in for duty.

The Minister suggested that the best course of action was to run the country by imposing strict health regulations, instead of imposing a lockdown.

He cited the exception of a few countries that were economically stable and could afford a lockdown and all the other expenses but noted that every other country maintains the economy under strict health guidelines.

“The World Health Organization (WHO) has not even recommended that a short-term lockdown will help countries overcome the rising COVID-cases,” he added.

Copies of his letter were sent to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Development Coordination and Supervision Minister Namal Rajapaksa, Senior Presidential Advisor Lalith Weeratunga and Secretary to the President P.B. Jayasundera.