Parliament meals cost Rs.120mn annual, Rs.9mn for water

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A total of Rs. 120 million is spent annually in parliament for food and beverages, parliament finance officers have estimated.

Food and beverages are consumed by MPs, parliamentary staff and visitors to parliament, of which 75 per cent of the cost goes to feeding the staff.

In order to minimise food waste, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya had recommended that all food cooked in the parliament canteen be reduced considerably and that meals be prepared after obtaining the number of persons to be present in advance, the officers said.

In addition, Rs. 80 million is spent on electricity, Rs. 14.5 million on telephone facilities and Rs. 9 million on drinking water per year, a parliament finance division spokesman said.

Parliament sources added that the bulk of the electricity consumption is for the air-conditioning system there.