Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga has expressed his views against a lockdown and urged the government to keep the country open since a majority of the people in his district are daily wage earners.
He said in a letter written to the President that the government employees don’t feel the gravity of the situation since they receive their monthly salaries on time, as against the daily wage earners. Under the circumstances, the daily wage earner is, left in the lurch.
He has accused the opposition of not being sensitive to the problem and accused them of devising a project to keep the country under lockdown. The letter stated that the Buddhist clergy, too are, gradually joining the chorus repeating the slogan. The opposition has no clear vision for the country, nor do they have a viable solution to end the present crisis.
Instead, the opposition is engaged in a sinister effort to exploit the people who are sensitive to the present situation. The objective of the opposition hence is to push the people to a position that will eventually lead to the toppling of the government.
“It is the aim of the opposition to grab power, hiding behind the pandemic.
The opposition is solely responsible for the spread of the pandemic since they were involved in organizing many protests by the people paying scant respect to their lives. Hence at this juncture, it is the duty of the government to explain to the people the actual situation with regard to the Covid pandemic and protect the people from the pandemic as much as possible. It is the sole responsibility of the government” he said.
