Monday 1st January, 2024

We wish we could strike a positive note today, but to do so would be to ignore the harsh socio-economic reality, and even insult the intelligence of the public. All, however, is not lost, and no one should give up hope; there is room for some optimism. Hope is said to spring eternal.

Time was when Sri Lankans would welcome the dawn of New Year, brimming with joy and hope, but today there is no air of gaiety; they have rung in 2024 with trepidation and despair. The country is still under a pall of uncertainty despite the ruling politicians’ beautifully-worded New Year messages that exemplify the Orwellian Newspeak and Doublethink.

Today marks the end of what may be called an interval in the ‘economic hell’. The enhanced Value Added Tax and the expansion of its application will be effective from today, and they will act as a double whammy for the public already reeling from exorbitant tax and tariff hikes and the ever-increasing cost of living.

Inflation is bound to increase. Transporters, restaurateurs, bakers and others have already made the most of the situation by effecting disproportionate increases in the prices of their goods and services. When the hydropower generation decreases with the rainy season coming to an end, making the CEB dependent on thermal power, electricity tariff will go up again due to an increase in diesel price. A water tariff hike is also said to be in the pipeline.

The price Sri Lanka has had to pay for ignoring early warnings of emergencies and dangers has been enormous. If the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government had heeded the warnings of an impending foreign currency reserve crisis, the economy could have been prevented from nosediving. Independent economists argue that remedial action should have been taken in 2021 itself. That regime also turned a blind eye to the warnings of the economic fallout of its disastrous organic farming experiment.

The Easter Sunday bombings (2019), which had a crippling impact on the economy besides destroying about 275 precious lives, could also have been averted if the Yahapalana government had heeded the warnings of the impending terror strikes. The carnage brought tourist arrivals to a halt, causing huge losses to the state coffers.

The Gotabaya Rajapaksa government initially brushed aside the warnings of an explosive spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. If it had acted swiftly after being alerted to the global health emergency, heeding expert opinion, placing orders for vaccines and adopting preventive measures such as lockdowns much earlier, and refrained from politicising travel restrictions, etc., the economic and social costs of the pandemic could have been greatly reduced.

As if the economic crisis and the resultant hardships were not enough, Sri Lanka now has a potential health emergency to contend with. JN 1, the latest subvariant of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, is causing a surge in Covid cases in India and several other countries.

The Health Sector trade unions have said two persons have already died of Covid-19 here, and they were found positive posthumously. Insisting that the World Health Organization has only declared JN 1 a subvariant of interest, the Health Ministry has sought to pooh-pooh concerns being expressed about a potential national health emergency.

Health Secretary Dr. Palitha Mahipala has said there is no danger of a rapid spread of Covid-19, and the number of Covid tests conducted daily has been doubled. He however won’t say how many tests are conducted a day! True, there is no need to panic, but complacency can kill where pandemic control is concerned. Worryingly, President of the College of Medical Laboratory Science, Ravi Kumudesh, told the media yesterday that the Covid-19 testing facility at the National Hospital, Colombo, had been closed down. So much for the government’s pandemic preparedness planning!

Malaysia has reactivated the Heightened Alert System in view of the latest wave of Covid-19. Singapore has asked its residents and tourists to wear masks. The central government of India has reportedly advised all states to adopt more stringent public health measures to prevent the transmission of the new coronavirus subvariant. The Karnataka state government has made it mandatory for the people aged 60 and above, and those with comorbidities to wear masks. That is the way to respond to a potential health emergency, without causing panic.

One can only hope that the SLPP-UNP government will emulate the other countries in the region in responding to the emerging health emergency.

May wisdom dawn on this land!