Despite wishing our readers a very happy 2023, our people are left carrying forward crises created in the past year. We need to confront them (problems) with a sense of pragmatism and practicality, no matter how difficult or painful they are going to be.
It’s part of the price we have to pay for handing power over to incompetent and corrupt leaders since receiving independence.
Our foreign debt remains unresolved. Fortunately, the miles-long queues for fuel, gas and basic food items have been temporarily halted, thanks to neighbouring India’s intervention.
Rolling daily blackouts are no longer the order of the day. But two-hour daily power cuts continue. The cost of living is way beyond the reach of ordinary men and women in the country. According to the World Food Programme, 6.3 million people, or over 30% of our population, are “food insecure” and require humanitarian assistance.
The rolling six-hour power cuts of February/March 2022 have been lifted. But daily power cuts still remain a fact of life and will continue into 2023. Despite electricity tariffs having reached astronomic levels, the Minister of Power and Energy blithely announces another 70% electricity tariff increase in January 2023.
He has threatened eight-hour power cuts in the event of tariffs not being raised. It is not a good sign for the new year. The minister seems to have forgotten, it was the rolling power cuts which proved to be ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’ and caused the nightly silent candle-light protests of February-March last year.
Those protests soon snowballed and gave rise to the birth of the ‘Aragalaya’, the ouster of the former premier and president. It is probably the one reason which led to the incumbent minister receiving his present job. Instead of threatening the masses with blackouts, it is the minister’s duty to provide workable solutions to the problem of providing electricity to the nation at reasonable rates. Threatening citizens who can scarcely afford even a square meal per day, find it difficult to feed their children or send them to school, is not quite the solution a nation expects from a responsible minister.
A hefty tariff increase in electricity rates, will also force the closure of many small and medium-term enterprises (SME) who will be unable to meet rising costs. Thereby creating another problem - closure of SMEs, loss of employment and rising unemployment. Perhaps the minister could look into the possibility of providing solar energy and recovering costs via deductions over a period of time.
Media reports quote the Russian Ambassador speaking of ongoing discussions with ‘Rosatom’, the Nuclear Energy Corporation of Russia, headquartered in Moscow for the setting up two mini nuclear power plants “to resolve the country’s long-standing power crisis...”.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe shortly after assuming the presidency suggested nuclear power as a cheaper means of power generation. Surely these are options which need to be given careful consideration.
The possibility holds a hope of bringing the cost of electricity within reach of the common man. It will also ensure Small and Medium - Enterprises are not faced with the nightmare of closure, bankruptcy and job losses. Another major problem carried over into the New Year is that of agricultural production. Our immediate past president ruined agricultural production with his ill-timed decision to ban agro-chemical-based agriculture. While there are many positives in banning the use of agro-chemicals; imposing the change without a fallback option proved disastrous. It led to a fall in agricultural production, the pauperization of the farming community and rise in food inflation in the country.
Government will need to subsidize farmers to help agricultural production reach previous levels of self-sufficiency. According to the Central Bank inflation decreased for the second consecutive month in November 2022. Printing money to meet the costs of local food production will/may see a rise in inflation. But its effects will be offset by the availability of more food in the market at more affordable prices.
The Commissioner of Elections has announced local government elections are constitutionally due in March this year. While local government elections will not solve the country’s pressing problems, it is a constitutional requirement. Our political parties too demand elections be held in a timely manner.
It has been estimated the cost of conducting the election will cost the country around Rs. 40 billion! Election costs dwarf the cost of subsidizing the farming community and providing vital food at affordable costs to a starving people.
What will be the decision? The stark choice - A Diamond or a Coal.
