Editorial

That things are indeed getting out of hand and out of control in Sri Lanka
according to the latest statistics seems an understatement. Consumer prices are rising rapidly according to the latest reports which are incomprehensible and ludicrous as the Rajapaksa clan consolidates their hold on the country in more ways than one and the man on the street wonders whether the 2/3rd  mandate given to The President was a justifiable one as the Nation careens on an erratic path causing apparent mayhem for the consumer which is not completely based on the Covid pandemic although there are people within the hierarchy that would like people to believe this which is not entirely true.

A recent editorial was quoted as saying “The government is behaving like an inebriated lifeguard who watches a drowning man flailing, instead of throwing a lifeline.

Powerful businesses are having a field day, jacking up  prices according to
their whims and fancies. Businessmen determine the prices of their products and services, and announce them at press conferences, making one wonder whether there are any consumer protection laws in this country. There is no one the hapless consumer can turn to. What is this world coming to when a  government looks on while the people are being fleeced so savagely?” end quote and nothing seems to be further from the truth that Sri Lanka is not in a perilous state today with lackeys handling administrative decisions by virtue of no experience towards their responsibilities and the “till robbers” once again doing their thing in gay abandon with no impunity. The country which was recovering well after the new administration took over is now teetering on the brink of disaster. Unless remedial action is taken post haste where all the blame points towards bad decisions made by inept legislators who have absolutely no right to the positions they hold and are making a mockery of Government there could be worse to follow.

 It is no fairy tale to point out that Consumers have been suffering heavy
 blows, repeatedly in the recent past as well as the present day where even
 basic food items and commodities essential to  normal living are hard to
 come by in a nation of suffering people at the mercy of unscrupulous
 merchants and eye-gouging business individuals who need to be taken to task and punished at the highest level towards restitution for the all suffering people who pinned their faith in the Rajapaksa administration. They deserve better but are now left in limbo and nowhere to turn to.
 It has become a double whammy as from one side the hardships are economy-related and on the other, it is the fear of the dreaded Covid Virus taking its toll on the impoverished people where the affluent have access to means towards their personal well being and that of their families where the poor and people of low or no income do not. An apathetic shame if one were to describe it in the best of terms in the world of today.

 In the simplest of terms, most consumers feel that they are being abandoned by an uncaring administration and left to their own resources in a country with no GDP or sustainable income and a failing economy from many perspectives where an explanation is surely called for.

 Quoting once again from the editorial referred to previously “The general consensus is that the CAA has become so politicized and impotent that it only provides a rubber stamp for unscrupulous big businesses with political connections. Will it try to prove its critics wrong by taking up the cudgels
 for the public?
 Is there a government? This is the question one asks oneself on seeing how
 helpless the public has become vis-à-vis powerful businesses who exploit
 them with impunity.
One of the reasons for the many serious lapses was that the then government was dysfunctional. True, the Yahapalana government became a metaphor for dysfunctionality and ineptitude. The present dispensation, whose leaders promised a strong government to protect the interests of the public, does not look any different in spite of having a two-thirds majority in  Parliament; confusion is reigning at the upper echelons of government.

Ministers are running around like headless chickens, and the public is at
 the mercy of profiteers who enjoy unbridled freedom to do as they please.
 Let the ruling politicians be told that they are digging their own political
 grave.”  end of the quote which points to the salient truth!  Sadly, an incredulous and perplexed world watches on as many Sri Lankan’s
 suffer today while the affluent and well-connected population
 particularly their very articulate leader rambling on about “what his good
 intentions are for the country” tantamount to little or nothing beyond lip
 service and inadmissible rhetoric, live out their lives in a manner
 reminiscent of Nero fiddling in a fast-burning Rome !!