Oh Mother Lanka, we weep for Thee

The horrendous price hikes which have now become a regular feature will soon result in the liquidation of the middle and lower income groups leaving the country to powerful politicians and their stooges living in the lap of luxury with their ill-gotten gains. It will be a classless autocracy, the Wonder of Asia.

The Government which cannot solve the mounting problems is now resorting to a new device — Trivialising Issues.

The professor with his bungling foreign policy has made enemies of our staunchest friends, dismissing the Geneva debacle as a conspiracy and looking for scapegoats. An errant Education Minister now turned a self-styled economist is proclaiming that a family of three can easily live on Rs.7500/- a month. Evidently President Rajapaksa believes him: that’s why he does not want to give the struggling wage-earners a salary increase. When the Hatton milk producers threw their milk into the drain the subject Minister said it was a political problem but his assistant told us that the machinery in the milk factory was over thirty years old and could not cope with the increased supply. Why was not the factory renovated before producers were asked to increase production? The Treasury Secretary who should know better punishes the public by increasing imported milk food prices, saying it is to help the local milk producer. What nonsense! Whom is he trying to fool?

The farmers have been asked to increase paddy and vegetable production. When they have done so there are no markets. There is a seed paddy crisis in the Tamankaduwa district and farmers are contemplating suicide. No one cares. Some Cabinet Ministers and the senior bureaucracy are square pegs in round holes. Bribery and corruption are rampant. There is no rule of law. People have no confidence in the judicial system. The free media is dying. Oh Mother Lanka we weep for Thee. Kumar Fernando

Dehiwela,