Rising costs, multiple crises and Lankan doctors’ unconscionable demands

It’s time to put our collective effort to help extricate this country from the mess, not add to the problems

According to multiple sources Israel blackmailed US President Trump into entering its war with Iran. A war which the president’s advisors had warned him to back away from. Unfortunately without any warning to Iran and not heeding advice from his own advisors, Trump carried out a sneak attack against Iranian civilian targets which included taking out Iran’s spiritual leader, targeting an elementary girls’ school which killed over 160 school girls as well as some military targets. 

Resultantly, West Asia was set ablaze when Iran reacted, targeting US military bases hosted in neighbouring countries, their infrastructural systems and Israel. It also closed the Straits of Hormuz through which around 20% of West Asian petroleum resources flowed to the countries of the world. 

Our country Sri Lanka a land rich in natural resources, but with nearly non- existential storage facilities has been extremely hard hit as we lack storage facilities to store the product despite having the dollars to purchase it. Those who governed our country since independence, have been busy stuffing their private pockets at the expense of country and countrymen.

Not surprisingly a poet from times of yore once described Lanka thus, “…though every aspect pleases and man alone is vile…”. To add to the misery, just two years ago, ‘we the people’, elected a new left-leaning government which promised to eliminate corruption. Unfortunately charges are now being made that an individual who had earlier been charged with corruption is now a sitting cabinet minister of the present regime.

Be that as it may, today we are facing a situation somewhat similar to that which we faced in the days which brought about the ‘aragalaya’. Today we are faced with a fuel crisis. Flowing from that, costs are rising from food on the table, to the constant rise in cost of all goods, services and stuck with stagnant wages.

Making a bad situation worse, the country is going through a period of extremely dry weather. Engineers at the National Water Supplies and Drainage Board have warned that water levels at catchment areas are dropping and warned of possible water cuts. Meanwhile the minister of power and energy has warned of possible power cuts if the present spell of dry weather continues.  Even worse farmer organisations complain crops may be destroyed due to a drop in rainfall patterns creating a possible drop in food production this season. All these factors will lead to an even further rise to the cost of living.

Adding to the misery, large sections of those who lost their sources of income during the financial crisis have not been able to find gainful employment as yet. That UNICEF figures show large-scale malnutrition among women and children are therefore not surprising. 

Amid these continuing difficulties and taken together with the fact that our country has yet to settle its international debt, we are therefore faced with a critical financial situation compounding existing problems.

 It is in this situation a trade union representing doctors has put forward a bucket list of demands from the medical fraternity (practitioners who took the Hypocritical Oath).  The good doctors trade union, has ‘urged authorities’ to declare Saturday as an additional day off with a revised working week, introduce a fair compensation mechanism to address outdated allowances, and implement a more stable payment system for extra duties carried out by specialists.

It appears that while the country is drowning in crises it has inherited, changing weather patterns, finding it difficult to repay its international debt; a doctors trade union, is warning that the country’s economic situation is leading to growing unrest among doctors which threaten to disrupt medical system in the country.

Shocking, we expect better from these doctors who received their entire medical education at our people’s expense. We do not, especially at this critical moment, expect them to hold the people and country to ransom. Government has already declared Wednesday an extra holiday in an attempt to conserve fuel and energy. 

The doctors’ demand for yet another day off is beginning to look like an attempt to increase their income through extra time spent in private practice. At this moment the nation is facing a crisis. We are all facing mega problems. The problem was caused by external forces. It’s time to put our collective effort to help extricate this country from the mess, not add to the problems.