Heaping More Burdens on an Overburdened People

If what Covid-19 has brought upon Sri Lankans countrywide with an increasing number of infected patients and related deaths being reported on a daily basis is not enough; if the massive man-made ecological disaster dished out by the MV X-Press Pearl to those sustained by the Indian Ocean and the tourist industry is not enough; if the travails of farmers lamenting the shortage of fertilizer trapped in-between the ongoing organic and in organic dilemma is not enough, and, if the devastation caused by the heavy rains and the floods that have killed more than 20 people while rendering tens of thousands homeless is not enough; came the shocking news of the government increasing the price of fuel amid media reports of requests being made for an increase in the prices of wheat flour and domestic gas. 

The repercussions of these price increases will, without doubt, push the already rising cost of living out of the roof worsening the plight of the ordinary people for whom survival itself has become a daily struggle between life and death, while being pinned under the ongoing travel restrictions and lockdowns. A case in point is the killing of a man searching for food for his starving family in Weligama. A bus had run over the man lying unconscious on the road after being brutally assaulted. Four people including two policemen were arrested when visuals of this unfortunate tragedy went viral on social media.

Meanwhile, the sudden announcement made by Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila has resulted in the Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) Secretary, Attorney-at-law and MP Sagara Kariyawasam in a letter written on the party letterhead called for the minister’s resignation on the basis that he has to take the full responsibility for the increase in fuel prices during these difficult times. This of course has stirred a hornet’s nest. At a televised media conference on Sunday, the minister said he made the announcement on behalf of and on the written authority of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is also the Finance Minister. Even stranger still was Minister Gammanpila saying he had volunteered to do so to safeguard President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Prime Minister from the consequences of this far-reaching decision. Are these government leaders incapable of taking responsibility for what the minister himself says was a collective Cabinet decision?

The increase in fuel prices is bound to trigger a chain reaction. According to Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena, the ministerial sub-committee appointed by the government to decide on these matters was supposed to meet on Monday to discuss a request made by the two gas giants, Litro and LAUGFS to increase prices of liquefied domestic gas. This is only the beginning. There will, without doubt, be more such requests from other sectors as well. We admit that it is the prerogative of the government to stabilise the local economy, but what we wish to point out is whether it is justifiable to heap more burdens on an already burdened people, who are in no way responsible for Sri Lanka’s economic downturn. 

Clarifying the reasons for a fuel price hike, the Presidential Media Division in a statement said it was a step towards strengthening the local economy, reducing foreign exchange spending and strengthening the exchange rate. If this is so, for what conceivable reason then did the Prime Minister submit a memorandum seeking Cabinet approval to import 227 luxury Prado SUVs at a cost of US$18 million? Amid a public outcry, he vowed to withdraw the Cabinet paper seeking approval for the import of these SUVs for ministers and MPs, all the while fully aware that the Letters of Credit had been opened a month earlier through a State bank. JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who described this questionable transaction as a fraud, pointed out that the LCs were opened in April 2021, while the Cabinet paper was submitted a month later in May. In what ways do these contradictory measures help reduce foreign exchange spending?

If the government, intends gaining the confidence and the trust of the people, it needs to be consistent in what it says and in what it does. Doing something exactly opposite to what it says will only alienate the people from the government even further.

The trouble with this country is that, there are too many politicians who believe with a conviction based on experience that you can fool all of the people all of the time -- Franklin Adams said this in 1944, but it is quite applicable to most politicians in Sri Lanka today.