Before President Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected in 2005 the government earned Rs. 20.6 billion from excise taxes on liquor but it increased up to Rs. 28.5 billion in 2009 (
http://www.cbsl.gov.lk/pics_n_docs/10 ... r2009e/PDF/16_Apendix.pdf)
The production of both hard liquor and beer increased consistently under the era of Mathata Thitha
Year Production Litres
2005 Hard liquor and beer 90 MN
2006 Hard liquor and beer 92.3 MN
2007 Hard liquor and beer 96.9 MN
2008 Hard liquor and beer 103 MN
Liquor licenses issued during the period of Mathata Thitha
Year Licenses
2006 35
2007 42
2008 36
Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya’s statement that no new liquor licenses have been issued is a blatant lie. His statement is disputed by the statistics of a department that comes under the purview of his ministry, Ministry of Finance.
* The consumption of illicit liquor too increased during the period of Mathta Thitha. In 2006 the number of inspections of unlawful distillation of spirits, carried out by the Colombo Unit of the department of excise was 141. But it rose to 288 in 2008.
Source: http://www.excise.gov.lk/downloads/Annual_Report_2008en.pdf * The consumption of sugar, which is one of the main ingredients used for “Kassippu” increased to 564,763 MT in 2008 from 494,521 MT in 2004
Ven. Ellawala Medhananda Thero, the leader of the JHU told the media that drinking liquor at parties hosted in the President’s official residence was not wrong before the presidential election, in clear disrespect to the fifth precept of Buddhism. Refer the following youtube video clip to view this despicable comment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJhVpp0kCwA
Voters must decide whether candidates of JHU must be sent to the parliament.
Mathata Thitha has been a miserable failure. It does not look as if the Government ever seriously wanted to discourage the consumption of liquor! Voters must think before they vote for people who have been attempting to fool us all.
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