By Dilrukshi Handunnetti
Our Lobby Correspondent

There are burdens and more burdens that Sri Lanka has to deal with but for a nation on a permanent economic slide with an expensive war to boot, the launch of a budget airline in the name of Mihin was a cruel joke. But the government was sufficiently amused by the grandiose plans while an unsuspecting nation watched the saga and kept their own counsel.

The state's rhetoric was tremendous that Sri Lanka was to have a budget airline to facilitate cheap travel for the have-nots etc., and eventually, the airline became, for a while, the unofficial private airline of President Mahinda Rajapakse, flitting here and there making enough bad landings as well as emergency landings.

A year later, the government's pet project was biting the dust. Instead of holding a requiem mass for an operation that fleeced the people and cast sand in their eyes, the government was coming up with a new plan to resurrect the dead duck. It is important to understand that it was very much dead having incurred a loss amounting to Rs.3200 million, owing the CPC and CEB massive amounts as the biggest economic disaster in recent times.

Lack of credentials

Given its credentials, or the lack of them, Mihin Air's future was taken up for an adjournment debate on Tuesday in parliament with fiery JVP legislator Sunil Handunnetti accusing the government of willingly turning a blind eye on a disastrous project run in a cavalier manner by a young man seeking aviation experience at the expense of a nation.

Handunnetti lambasted that instead of a curtain call, Mihin Air, aptly dubbed Himin Air was now being given a new lease of life by the powers that be. Handunnetti failed to add that the best option perhaps would have been for the Central Bank that belatedly recognises illegalities, to blacklist Mihin along with the other fraudulent finance companies, at least as an afterthought.

Handunnetti who moved the adjournment motion faulted the government for not initiating an investigation into the reasons for Mihin suffering a Rs.3200 million loss and for not taking to task the offenders, given that it was the taxpayers' money that was misused.

"Sajin Vass Gunewardena was not spending his legacy to launch an airline. He was using public funds. We want to know why the checks and balances were not there and now that he has bungled the operation beautifully, why there is no inquiry? Anyone else would have been jailed for what this one single man has done," breathed Handunnetti.

'Make Sajin pay'

His suggestion was that as public funds have been utilised for Mihin, there should be some mechanism to recover the same from Vass Gunewardena's private funds. "Only that would be fair," he noted.

Mihin was made to sound as if was child's play when Non Cabinet Minister for Power and Energy, Mahindananda Aluthgamage spoke. A man who throws caution to the winds when he defends the government did not blush as he announced to the house that Mihin literally crashed - due to mismanagement.

There were no cheers from the opposition benches for acknowledging what was predicted many months ago, but Aluthgamage did admit that Mihin was handled without the necessary expertise for which the state now had to pay a huge price.

Lackeys for the job

UNP Parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekera was not mincing his words as he joined the debate scoffing that the Mihin Air website had a notice stating: "Today's flight schedule is not yet finalised." Jayasekera noted that it was indeed a bad joke played on the people to have a budget airline to be launched by a government. "Nowhere in the world's aviation history has this happened. Other countries invite the private sector to do it and here, the Rajapakse bandwagon gets a few lackeys to do it," he said.

Attacking Mihin mercilessly, the MP noted that the government has allowed not just the so-called budget airline to crash but continuously pumped funds without any respect for the taxpayer.

"There was no plan or assessment on Mihin when it commenced operations and now, its former CEO Sajin Vass Gunewardena goes scot free with no action despite his wasteful exercise just like A.A. Wijeypala of Inland Revenue fame and Dr. P.B. Jayasundera of Treasury fame were allowed to do," thundered Jayasekera.

Most ill-conceived

He said that the Mihin project from the very first day was flawed but there were too many powerful people involved in it that it had to go through. "This was the most ill-conceived project and now, a tax burdened nation will have to pay for the Rajapakse-Gunewardena imprudence," he said.

There was a complete volte face, as often the Rajapakses do show these days, when Ports and Aviation Minister, Chamal Rajapakse replied at the end of the two and a half hour debate, admitting that there was mismanagement but there was nothing that could not be put right. It was funny indeed to have Rajapakse seeking to explain away the huge miscalculation that was Mihin, coupled with its imprudent decision-making and bungled operations with a single dismissive gesture.

Without batting an eyelid he did admit in parliament that the so-called budget airline, Mihin Air had sustained a colossal loss of Rs.3,200 million since its inception. But Rajapakse like the rest of his ilk appeared to pin much hope on a new corporate plan that is scheduled to be implemented in December.

"There are several corporate plans that have been submitted. We will select the best and we will fix the problem," he said, still proud of a project that proved to be the administration's Achilles' Heel. Rajapakse also said that the ordered six Chinese aircraft would be used for both domestic purposes and to fly to nearby destinations such as the Maldives and India.

"There is a growing demand for internal flights, specially to Ampara, Kankesanthurai and similar places. We are considering this need seriously," he said.

Condemned

Though Mihin has suffered a massive financial loss within a single year, the Aviation Minister expressed confidence that it could be revived with the implementation of a new corporate plan that would include better management.

And for all the opposition's hot air and the glaring fact that this is one project that should have not happened, the government still managed to dismiss the matter with academic debate. As things stand today, there is nothing that provides the people the much-needed confidence that there won't be repeats of Mihin. As people are condemned to getting the governments they deserve, they are perhaps condemned also to pay for their sins.