DARSHANA SANJEEWA BALASURIYA 
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President says helicopters not for him
President Maitripala Sirisena, in a televised address to the nation, said he that would not make use of helicopters except to attend to urgent duties.Appearing on a talk show televised by state run television channels, he said the term ‘His Excellency’ should not be used when referring to him as President, and the term ‘First Lady’ when reference was made to his wife.
He also confirmed that he had ordered the authorities not to use school children for events attended by him, as he had seen how they suffered during such functions in the past.
“I will not stay in presidential palaces in Colombo, Kandy, Anuradhapura, Embilipitiya, Kataragama and Mahiyangane. I will use them for state functions only,” he said. He added that it was not befitting for him to stay in such mansions as a person hailing from a poor family.
The President said the initial allocation of Rs. 10 billion for the Presidential Secretariat was cut down to Rs.2.7 billion by him, as a cost cutting exercise.
He also revealed that an order had placed to purchase an aircraft priced US $ 16 million for the use of the former president. “We cancelled this order, and instead, decided to channel these monies to procure spare parts for SriLankan,” he said.
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