Paying for Petrol

Photo by VanveenJF on Unsplash

The hot news is that the LKGOV is compensating people for engine damages caused by the substandard petrol that was imported by the Ceypetco.

Now at face value this sounds like an excellent idea. After all, it is only fair that the people who fucked up your car engine pay for the damage they caused.

But who's paying for it really?

They say that they will pay compensation up to LKR50,000 for the affected vehicles. And over 2,000 vehicles have claimed damages, for a total of LKR100,000,000 in compensation.

Of course that isn't much. About LKR 20 from every man, woman, and child in Sri Lanka. And a lot cheaper than buying a Russian helicopter.

But it is the principle of the thing isn't it?

The money for compensation is coming from Ceypetco. Which means that it will be added to the price of fuel. So a few mililiters of every liter of petrol you pump into your car will go to pay for the compensation. And yet, the people who were responsible for this debacle are not only going to get off scot free, but they will be rewarded for it in the form of whatever cuts and commissions they got from it.

This is not new. This is not a unique situation. This is the status quo in Sri Lanka. Zero accountability. And whatever compensation will be paid by taxes by the state. And life - and the activities - will go on as if nothing had happened.

And that is the rub isn't it?

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