The light of hope!
VESAK is the festival of light. Yet this year it seems that the lights will have to be dimmed to reflect the reduced lustre of the country’s economy.
As the Power and Energy Ministry organisers raffle draws for people who save electricity during the upcoming religious season there are many other efforts happening behind the scenes to lighten the country’s dimming signs of prosperity.
Weekend reports indicated that that a Government delegation had flown to Beijing to obtain yet another loan, this time an impressive US$1.2 billion to bolster flagging reserves and a blinking rupee that has been on the wane for months. Opposition members also revealed that the Government had proposed two new projects for Chinese involvement despite subject ministers having no idea that such measures were taking place.
At the risk of being called a ‘dim bulb’, the Petroleum Minister Susil Premajayantha had insisted to media that he was unaware the Government had already possibly handed over the Sapugaskanda oil refinery expansion project to China despite offers from Lanka IOC.
The ageing Ceylon Petroleum Corporation refinery desperately needs repair and expansion and is only able to refine just a fraction of crude oil exports, necessitating the need for a larger quantity of refined crude. Refined fuel is costlier and eating into scarce foreign reserves, economists say. The Moragahakanda project has also been part of the package offer, according to reports.
As pundits contemplate the economic impact of increased debt, vehicle owners were wondering how to extricate their ride from the ports. Thousands of vehicles have been virtually stranded at the Colombo port after the Government raised taxes, resulting in lightning strike increases of around Rs. 1 million extra to importers. With dwindling parking space and no income from imports, customs are now holding discussions with stakeholders hoping the light of reason will dawn on the matter.
Last week the increase in price of essential goods continued with hikes in both gas and bread to add to the blinding weight of cost of living. As political parties squabbled over who would take the credit for the largest May Day rally, labourers shook their heads wondering what more bad news awaited on the horizon. As protests for salaries continued between the Government and academics, many people predict that number of strikes would likely increase as the masses continued to feel the pressure of continuous high prices.
The Government has offered a raffle to consumers that can reduce their light bills this month as an incentive to reduce costs and avert power cuts. After having had dreams about exporting power to India the Power and Energy Ministry has receded into the shadows. Costly coal power plants have betrayed rhetoric and proved to be expensive, leaving the authorities to rely on rains to reduce losses, and ironically, hydro power still remains the light at the end of the tunnel.
As Sri Lanka prepares to celebrate the light of wisdom and workers’ rights this week, one cannot help but feel that events have come to a challenging point. It seems that the workers only have each other to depend on and the light of hope to sustain them.
