State Minister for Finance Eran Wickremeratne had a dig at Airbus Industries, France and said that they should have been more responsible when selling A350 aircraft to SriLankan which was going through major financial losses.
Airbus Industries should have been more cautious and should have advised the SriLankan Airline negotiators during the Rajapaksa administration against the future financial implications of this deal,” he said at the forum organized by Advocata Institute at Global towers hotel last week. “They (airbus) also have to bear responsibility for the sale as they too had a responsibility.”
The State-run SriLankan Airlines bought over a dozen A350 and A330 aircraft from Airbus via the leasing company AerCap in a deal valued at over two billion US dollars during the time and the Minister it was sad that they had to pay a penalty of over 100 million dollars to cancel the deal for three aircraft. Sri Lanka now wants to cancel the balance four A350 aircraft order as well.
State Minister also said that the airline is still in Red and the government keeps pumping money. “As for me I don’t have any idea as to how to bail out SriLankan.”
Meanwhile Chief Economist Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Anushka Wijesinghe said that though some Minsters and officials believe that three- wheelers was a menace it was not exactly so.
“Three-wheelers when it comes to the rural areas is the last mile transport options for people where organized transports ends. It’s also the makeshift ambulance to take pregnant women and way side casualties to the nearest hospitals.”
He also pointed out that it’s the only transport option in rural estates. The Minister too admitted this fact and said that systems should be brought to discipline them.
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