- Gas cylinders continue to explode
- Government seals Trincomalee oil tank agreement with India
- No fertiliser for Yala season, food shortages on the cards
The dawn of a new year brings with it the hope of new beginnings. For Sri Lankans the current challenges to find food and other essential commodities for their daily survival and the crises in the economy and agriculture will be hard to brush off and will endure for the foreseeable future. Despite the lapse of many months, the government has not been able to provide effective and trustworthy solutions to the everyday problems of the people to allay their concerns. Instead, it has allowed the issues to snowball and the trust deficit between it and the people to widen. Take the LP gas issue for instance. Despite assurances given by the gas supplying companies to provide safe gas, explosions continue to be reported from around the country. The findings by the presidential committee which was appointed to look into the explosions that the composition of the gas has been changed, has effectively come to nought. Although many people have been injured, lives have been lost and homes have been destroyed due to gas explosions, there have been no sanctions against the suppliers of gas.
The government’s reaction to the economic debacle which it has precipitated with tax cuts and allowing a free hand for corruption to run rife is having a domino effect on the food, agriculture and innumerable other spheres of life, has been adhoc and without a vision. Instead of a sustainable and credible roadmap to pull the country out of the financial quagmire it has plunged into the government’s response has been less than basic. The main thrust of its economic panacea has been the drive to sell or lease the county’s assets to tide over bond and loan payments and to print money. On the 18th of this month, the government has to pay $ 500 million for a sovereign bond that is maturing and most view the deal to jointly develop the Trincomalee oil tank farm with India as a face saving measure to bring in the money for this. After all it was only last week that Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila told the Hindu newspaper the government has been negotiating this deal for 16 months. ‘We are now very close to finalizing the terms of the project with India and hope to sign the agreement in one month’, he said. Yesterday, the cabinet of ministers greenlighted the agreement. The weekly communique with cabinet decisions which is released by the government Information Department said that ‘after reviewing the three existing agreements with the Government of India regarding the Trincomalee Oil Tank Complex through diplomatic talks the two countries have reached an agreement to implement a joint development project. Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers approved proposal presented by the Minister of Power to allocate 24 oil tanks for the business activities of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, to allocate 14 tanks of the Lower Oil Tank Complex already in use by Lanka IOC for the company’s business activities and to implement a development project by a company named Trinco Petroleum Terminal Pvt. Ltd. With the remaining 61 tanks of which 51% will be owned by Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and 49% by Lanka IOC’.
Meanwhile JVP MP Vijitha Hearth revealed how the government printed 202 billion rupees last month, bringing the total for the year to 825 billion rupees. According to the Department of Census and Statistics overall inflation in December was 12. 01 percent which is a record high. Verite Research, a leading think tank on economics law and media, points out how payments such as those towards bonds undermine the local economy. The government must negotiate with bond holders to defer payments which must be utilized to buy essential commodities such as food and medicine.
Although the attempted overnight conversion to organic farming having gone awry, the government is still stubborn and stoic about implementing its shortsighted policy contrary to the advice of agriculture experts. Their prediction is that there will be a drop in rice production of up to 40 percent which will be just the tip of the iceberg because this does not count fruit, vegetable and tea production. What is more disconcerting is the evident lack of preparation by the government for the forthcoming Yala season and how it plans to address the fertiliser issue. It takes at least three months for stocks of fertiliser to arrive in the country and by the time it does, it will be too late for the Yala season which will start as early as March in some areas such as those in the wet zone because of the onset of the rains. The season goes on until May. Two thirds of the country’s agriculture land is in the dry zone where the Maha season dominates. Although only one third of agriculture land is in the wet zone where cultivation takes place during the Yala season the population density which is about two thirds, is higher.
Despite the government having to bow to pressure from farmers and the agriculture sector to renege on its own ban on the import of chemical fertiliser, soaring global prices that have nearly trebled and a depreciating rupee have made fertiliser importing companies and farmers circumspect.
A 50 kg bag of urea which used to be 1500 rupees now costs between 25- 30, 000 rupees and farmers are reluctant to buy fertiliser at this price because of cost implications. Instead, whatever fertiliser they can afford to buy is used to grow food crops for their household consumption and to ensure their family’s food security. Meanwhile the companies that import fertiliser into the country have also lost out. They would typically import stocks when fluctuating global prices were down but due to the ban having been in place at the time they were not able to. Currently they don’t want to take the risk of importing stocks of fertiliser at a high price but on the other hand even if they did want to import, they are faced with a dollar shortage.
While it is not unusual for a Maha or Yala season to fail for instance because of natural disasters like floods, the consecutive failure of two seasons will be detrimental for the production of seed paddy and will have a far reaching impact on the country’s food security. Although the ban on chemical fertiliser imports preceded the last Maha season, farmers were able to manage with the fertiliser that was already in the country albeit with difficulty. It was a time marred with protests by rice farmers and complaints of yellowing leaves due to lack of nitrogen which is a key compound for plant growth. These in-country stocks of fertiliser have now been exhausted and there is nothing left for the Yala season which is why it is crucial that the government takes immediate steps to address the shortcoming.
The shortages in essential items is causing long queues and frayed tempers outside retails centres and it is against this background of growing social discontent that government ministers are getting hooted and jeered at. Among them have been several frontline MPs like the President’s nephews Namal Rajapakse who was hooted at on his Hambantota home turf during the IPL presentation ceremony and Shaseendra Rajapakse, Prasanna Ranatunge and Vasudeva Nanayakkara.
Last week none other than the country’s topmost government servant President Gotabaya Rajapakse was hooted at by a crowd of people who were standing in a queue for milk powder. It didn’t take long after the hoot for a posse of policemen to close down the outlet and the police media spokesman to warn of punitive action against those making derogatory comments against the President. This was after the CID arrested a woman for sharing a post on social media post about the hoot at the President.
On Sunday, the Kotte Sri Kalyani Saamashra Dharma Maha Sangha Sabhawa threw a lifeline to the president when they bestowed him the honour of Sri Lankadeeshwara Padmavibushana for his services to the country.
It gave the president an opportunity to elaborate on his achievements during his days in the Sri Lanka army and his services to promote and protect Buddhism in the country. During his address, he also spoke about how the Covid -19 virus had been successfully contained by his government.
It was also a moment for the president to absolve himself of the serial crises the country is facing and throw down the gauntlet for change.
‘There is no one in this world who has not suffered humiliations and not got accolades’, said the president citing Buddhist scriptures. ‘I am prepared to avoid the challenges in our journey so far and start a new journey to fulfil the aspirations of the people. If I have to take rigid decisions to do this, I am prepared for it too’, he added saying it was a pledge he was making in the presence of the Buddhist clergy.
The relationship between the President and the maha sangha has been one of cosy co -existence and this magnanimous gesture by them to honour him at a time the president’s popularity has hit rock bottom may shore up support for him among a limited audience, but more than ever it will raise questions about the role of the sangha and the lip service they pay to the country’s leaders.
