CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

BAILAS AND YARNS CANNOT BRING DOWN FOOD PRICES

A.A.M.NIZAM MATARA.

Periodically, the leader of the rump-UNP Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe and his cohorts resort to various forms of Bailas and Yarns in a desperate attempt to hold their membership intact and prevent erosion of their voter base in the face of apparent realities they witness and come across throughout the country. These Bailas and Yarrns, among other things include repeated assurance of toppling the government, demeaning marvellous feats of our security forces, humiliating Buddhist priests, weekend sojourns to village Polas, signature campaign for what they call for impeaching the President, vandalising parapet walls and so on. The latest Tamasha is an appeal to break and smash pots and pans on the roads on 3rd April. This fastfood eating Pepsi drinking power hungry cabal allege that the government is not taking any action to bring down the cost of living and place more and more hardships on the people. They attempt to fool the masses that it is only they who could bring down the prices of goods.

Do they sincerely love the masses? Do they act independently or are they attempting to implement a hidden agenda of a third party? What the UNP did when they held power to arrest price increases? Does the increase of food prices phenomenal to Sri Lanka only? What are the causes behind the price increases? What are the possible solutions available? Can we Sri Lankans wrestle this problem?

In the Western Province UNP has its strong vote base than in any other Province with people ready at the beck and call to gather blindly in their thousands to wash dirty linen for UNP. For a deceptive programme called “Jana Bala Mehayuma” held in the year 2000 many thousand from Colombo and its suburbs gathered on UNP’s call to protest against the Government and in the melee that followed two youth got killed. The families of these youth were promised sun and the moon by the UNP in the event of their coming to power. But the UNP completely forget about these unfortunate youth when they came to power and left their families high and dry. This is UNP’s sincerity and how they betray the families of those who blindly sacrifice their life and limb for the Party.

The UNP founded by the great patriots of this nation have fallen to the abyss of treachery under the autocratic current leadership. All programmes of the current rump-UNP are projected towards halting the North war, adopting ways and means to deny resources for the government, helping the terrorists to strengthen and consolidate their prowess, humiliate the government overtly and the security forces covertly with baseless allegations of human rights violations, encouraging and promoting western powers, neo-colonialist outfits and groups hostile to the country to censure and interfere in the internal affairs of the country. The UNP leadership blatantly betraying the interests of the country act in a shameless manner that this country should be governed according to the whims and fancies of foreigners.

People may sometimes wonder whether founder of the UNP, the late Prime Minister Mr. D.S.Senayake had a foresight about his Party falling into the hands of current treacherous leadership and made the following statement in 1945 that “I appeal to them not to let the ambition of a few politicians stand in the way of the freedom of our dear Lanka. Shall the most ancient of our civilisations sink into the level of a dull and dreary negation?” Time has dawn for the patriotic members and supporters of the UNP to heed to this appeal by the late Prime Minister and act accordingly to save his Party and the Sri Lankan nation from a vicious gang.

The UNP makes various allegations about price increases and try to project that price escalations are consequential to the folly of the government despite that fact that the government has taken various measures to address this issue while resolutely fighting terrorists and terrorism in all its forms. At the same time they fail to provide any solutions to this problem, rather than shouting slogans. It is pertinent to remind the Ranil Wickrremasinghe cabal afflicted with acute amnesia about their records on this subject.

An independent survey carried out on the reasons that led to the defeat of Ranil Wickremasinghe government inter alia had the following comments:

The electorate reacted against the government which was incapable of bringing down the cost of living – Sugar prices went over Rs. 40 from Rs. 26, Big onions to Rs. 60 from Rs. 25, Sprats to Rs. 180 from Rs. 90, Umbalakada to Rs. 395/425 from Rs. 240, Eggs to Rs. 5.50 from Rs. 3.50.
Hundreds of complaints had been received in various forms of malpractices in the CWE. There were reports of surreptitious hive activity in selling the assets of CWE lock, stock and barrel. Pressure was brought on the staff, to leave under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme compelling them to go on a “fast unto death” which was prevented by PA leaders.
Brazen corruption in the questionable sale of State land to friends and favourites resulting in amassing massive illegal wealth also took its toll.
State land demarcated for public use such as playgrounds, car parks, fields meant for drainage of rain-water and many other in urban and suburban areas were sold by UNF Ministers to big-business and others ignoring tender procedure.
The mass of the voter felt that the UNF government paid more attention to the rich and the corrupt businessmen and that the farmer, the worker and the poorer masses were low down in their scheme of things.

The UNP, which discouraged food production when it was in power by turning paddy fields to plant cash crops etc., foolishly believe that people in Sri Lanka are living in an isolated land mass and are unaware of world trends related to prices increases. It is a known fact that people in almost all countries and particularly those who are in countries which import their food requirements are severely affected by escalating prices throughout the world. Diversion of crops extensively for production of bio-fuel in the United States and many western countries, sever drought in Australia and several other countries, steep increase in fertilizer prices have also contributed to food shortages and escalation of prices.

The World Food Programme and the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation claim that presently 36 countries are severely affected by increases in food prices and this would escalate further in the coming years. The only solution to this problem is to dedicate ourselves to grow our food requirements locally as much as possible. At a time when UNP is attempting to mislead the mass on food price increases it is pertinent to conclude this article with what the late Prime Minister Mr. D.S.Senanayake said in his booklet entitled “Agriculture and Patriotism”

"It is a remarkable fact that we in Ceylon, while repeating in season and out, that ours is an agricultural country and that her prosperity is inextricably bound up with her agricultural progress, should yet be apparently content to pay a bill in a year of depression (1933) of nearly 87 million rupees for the imports of our food and drink."

Let the patriotic members and supporters of the UNP stand up to the admonition of its founder and reject the Bailas and Yarns of the western slavish Ranil Wickremasinghe cabal.

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