Our Minister of Power and Energy, after having all these long months of having told us that stocks of fuel were on their way, has at last informed the general public that fuel imports including diesel and petrol may be restricted for the next year at least.

The reason... Sri Lanka has no foreign exchange to pay for imports. This is no secret to us Lankans. For the past few months the media have been highlighting the fact that we have no hard currency to purchase basic necessities. 
The only positive that comes from the minister’s information is that at long last, the government seems to be making an effort to take the public into its confidence and not lying to ‘us, the people’.

We have therefore got to realize that we will have for the next year or more make more sacrifices for the good of the country. We will also be hoping that our politicians too will make an effort to reduce their consumption of fuel - no more large convoys of security personnel accompanying ministers and members of parliament.

In most parts of the world, ministers travel to their work places using public transport. It would set a great example if our ministers and members of parliament put their fuel guzzling limousines aside for at least a short time and use the public transport system. This would free up more fuel, while at the same time, ensure the entire public transport system itself is improved and made more people-friendly.   

The Minister in other words is also informing us that the household power cuts of today, would not end for at least another year or more. While use of power necessarily needs to be restricted, sufficient quantities must be made available to ensure the industrial capacity of the country is not adversely affected.

The tourist industry together with plantation crops like tea, rubber and coconut are the major foreign currency earners of this country. The new regime must ensure that sufficient quantities of fuel are made available to ensure the wheels of industry turn smoothly.

Our country’s tourism sector has grown over time to emerge as one of the most valuable players in the Sri Lankan economy. It contributes toward employment generation, foreign exchange earnings as well as ensuring a steady supply of revenue for the successive governments in direct and indirect ways. Until the Easter Sunday bombings, income from tourism was the third largest foreign exchange earner in the country.

Central Bank studies reveal that tourism brought in approximately US$ 4.31 million in 2018 and dropped to US$ 4,367 million in 2019 after the Covid-19 pandemic hit. In 2020, tourist earnings had fallen to a mere US$ 682 million.

If we are to get out of our debt situation, authorities must do everything possible to get this sector up and running as quickly as possible. In other words tourism needs to be raised to the status of an essential service and necessary stocks of fuel need to be made available to the industry. 

The farming community cannot produce much needed food stocks as fuel is not available for farm machinery such as tractors as well as trucks/lorries needed to transport their produce to markets. Similarly the tea and rubber industries - the largest foreign exchange earners in the country -- are unable to perform at peak due to lack of fuel.
Again, our medical services have reached a breaking point, as sufficient basic medicaments are in short supply and doctors are unable to reach the patients due to unavailability of fuel to get them from point ‘A’ to ‘B’.

Children’s education has been completely disrupted due to the absence of fuel to transport them to school and back. Again teachers complain they find it difficult to get to their educational centres because of the same reason.
The new president and his government need to pay special attention to ensure essential services such as the aforementioned are given preferential treatment in the provision of fuel.

Unless the economy is jump-started and unless we are able to earn hard currency, we will not be in a position to purchase essentials and will never be able to get out of the debt we are presently caught up in.
The time has come for one and all of us - irrespective of we are the president or the labourer - to put into practice the famous words of late President John F. Kennedy “...let us not ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”