11 January 2023 12:01 am Views - 448
Two weeks ago, the world bid adieu to the year 2022. For us 2022 was particularly catastrophic. For the first time in our history, we defaulted on debt payment.
So, we will definitely not be saying ‘auf wiedersehen’ to 2022.
As the year 2022 began, the situation appeared bleak. Inflation rates were soaring and the cost-of-living skyrocketing to unprecedented levels and the country experiencing food, medicine and fuel shortages.
Miles-long queues formed in front of petrol sheds as the country could not afford to purchase its requirements in fuel. LP gas (cooking gas) was simply not available. Imports were banned. Infant food was in short supply as were even basic medicines.
Daily blackouts were commonplace and the economy was in freefall. Across the board pay/salary cuts were implemented without consent of employees. Small businesses were forced into closure. The net result - many employees were thrown out of employment at a time the cost of living was soaring.
Malnutrition among children rose to levels never witnessed before. The World Bank estimated that over 500,000 people in Sri Lanka had fallen below the poverty line.
Unable to cope, unorganized protests sprang up in all parts of the country. With the situation worsening, peaceful protestors coalesced and protest sites sprang up in different parts of the country. With government making no effort to solve the worsening situation, more extreme elements gained the upper hand, and when state-sponsored goons attacked protest sites and all hell broke out.Anarchic forces unleashed counter attacks leading to the Prime Minister resigning, the President fleeing the country and Ranil Wickremesinghe being sworn in as president of the country.
Since Wickremesinghe took over, thanks mainly to India’s good offices, the country has been able to see stability somewhat. Fuel and gas are available in limited quantities, as are basic food and medicines... at a price however.
But we are still not out of the woods. A UNICEF report shows over 5.7 million people, including 2.3 million children, require humanitarian assistance in Sri Lanka. Parents are finding it difficult to provide their children with education; especially families with two or more kids.
Some large state institutions continue making heavy losses. The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has suffered an estimated loss of Rs. 152 billion in the year 2022. On December 8, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera told Parliament that the CEB has suffered a loss of Rs. 112 billion in the year 2022, until the month of October.
‘economynext.com’ reports Sri Lankan Airlines has lost Rs. 248 billion up to April 2022.
Our country stands in dire need of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, but an IMF bailout comes with conditions. Among these conditions are divesting of loss-making state ventures.
Our political parties, especially those in the Opposition, reject the concept of divestiture, but have no alternative solution to the problem.
While politicians quibble over the pros and cons of privatization of the loss-making CEB, the subject minister has informed us minions, that there is no alternative to increasing electricity rates by around 65% from this month.
Little is spoken of alternative sources like wind and solar power. The president himself - in his first days in office, spoke of the need to tap into nuclear power to reduce electricity costs. The Russian Ambassador is on record saying his country had put forward a proposal in this regard, but Lankan authorities had not responded.
Could it be a fear of causing displeasure to the US and the West, that the Russian offer has not been taken up? Is it why our president has suddenly gone silent on what was in the first place his own plan to provide electricity to consumers at affordable rates? Shouldn’t we take a lesson from India and put the needs of this country first? When confronted by western journalists claiming India was supporting Russia regarding its purchases of oil and gas, the Indian Foreign Minister emphasized India had to do what was best for its own people. He also pointed out that EU countries were importing more oil and gas from Russia than India was doing.
Taking this lesson one step further, isn’t it time our own politicians and political parties cast aside political and personal agendas to put the interests of this country first? Despite corruption being one of the main reasons for our economic plight today, the same corrupt politicians are once again calling on us to vote for them at a LG poll.
Lanka needs a bard, is there anyone among us, with courage to take up Lanka’s call?