Editorial Courtesy The Island

September 11, 2018, 9:21 pm
People lived in mortal fear of Grease Yaka during the Rajapaksa government. Covered in grease and armed with a sharp weapon, it would move about in the buff, scaring women. That much-dreaded creature has not been sighted or heard of since the 2015 regime change. But, the people are now troubled by another Yaka, under the yahapalana dispensation. Covered in a mixture of petrol, diesel and kerosene, it attacks people at midnight.

The Yahapalana Oil Yaka, operates from the Finance Ministry, run by the UNP, and relieve its victims of their wallets, using an unseen pricing formula as a weapon. It has struck again and the people have to cough up more for oil. The yahapalana leaders are busy going overseas and helping solve global issues while the people are suffering at home, unable to keep the wolf from the door. UN Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, who was here recently, has also looked askance at the way fuel prices are increased. But, the yahapalana leaders have no such concerns.

President Maithripala Sirisena has gone ballistic. The cause of his ire, however, is not the fuel price hike. He is troubled by another big problem which he is determined to solve. It is the poor quality of cashew nuts served on SriLankan flights! He says they are not fit for human consumption. Ordinary passengers have learnt to gulp down in-flight meals without grumbling. They may wonder why the leaders of a country where foreigners get state assets such as ports and land for peanuts are making an issue of cashew nuts.

We can only hope that President Sirisena will concentrate on the burning problems people are faced with, after solving the cashew nut issue. The people are struggling, unable to cope with their economic woes, aggravated by astronomical increases in fuel prices, which are effected according to a pricing formula kept under wraps. Not even the Minister of Petroleum Resources has seen the secret formula! President Sirisena came to power, promising good governance, of which transparency is an integral part.

The government initially reduced fuel prices in a bid to win the 2015 general election, but it is now heaping unbearable economic burdens on the people by way of fuel price hikes. This may be considered an indication that there will be no elections in the foreseeable future.

Bus, taxi and school vehicle operators have said they will be compelled to increase their fares again. The public will be faced with a double whammy due to the latest fuel price increases.

The pricing formula, in our book, is only a ruse to justify fuel price increases and it is highly unlikely that the public will ever get any relief therefrom. Strangely, not even the Joint Opposition messiahs who promise deliverance to the masses and stage ‘road shows’, have taken up the fuel hikes and the so-called pricing formula issue. Maybe the cost of living does not affect those worthies who amassed enough wealth while in power. They themselves fleeced the public without passing the benefit of falling oil prices in the world market on to consumers; that may be one of the reasons why they do not want to confront the government on extortionate fuel price increases. It may also be possible that they are planning to use the same formula in case they capture power.

The President has boasted of having a sword, which is thought to be like King Arthur’s Excalibur, and promised to use it for the sake of the people. If he cannot neutralise the Yahapalana Oil Yaka with that magical blade, will he, at least, have the fuel pricing formula disclosed? The people have a right to know what hits them on the head from time to time. That is the least the President can do for the people crying out for help.