Is it all Hunky Dory?

To say that I was anxious when it was announced that the President was due to address the nation (24th of June 2021) would be an understatement.

However, even in retrospect I feel my emotional position was justified. After all according to the prevailing news we are in one of our worst economic crises. The foreign reserves are at an all-time low. The country is more or less shut down adding to the economic doldrums further. Despite the repeated assurances, there are daily news casts of the farmers and their woes regarding the lack of fertiliser. Crops are not doing well. It seems to be a case of when the vegetables are available the traders are not available and when the traders are available the vegetables are not available –with corresponding ‘yo yoing’ of the vegetable prices. We apparently have a surplus of rice, but nevertheless a hundred thousand metric tons of rice is to be imported. A ship has burnt down triggering one of the worst marine biology disasters in our history. Millions are spent on Covid testing daily, not to mention other related expenses, but we do not seem to have a handle on the spread of this disease. A vaccination programme is being rolled out consuming further millions of rupees, with a huge amount of criticism on whether the programme is being executed effectively. A new Delta variant, so far the worst, was imminent – now isolated from the community; predicting that the worst is yet to come.

In this background I was ready to ‘batten down the hatches’ as it were and get ready for the future. This was a new enemy that we needed to face, but, nevertheless an enemy. I thought of my ancestors preparing for war against the various invasions we have had over the times. Struggling through droughts, plagues, economic crises in more recent times.

The closest, I thought, we have been to this type of crisis was probably during the SLFP government in the 1970s. There was an international oil crisis; the price of oil went from 147 in 1972 to 826 in 1975. Bretton Woods system of orderly exchange rates collapsed creating chaos in currency management. There was the JVP insurrection of 1971. There were privations all around. Rationing, coupons, limited foreign exchange when going abroad, etc. Despite all of this, the government, under the astute guidance and foresight of Dr. N.M. Perera pulled through. Not only that; we hosted the Non-Aligned Conference under the chairmanship of the late Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike. I remember the fleet of 504s that were brought in for this. There was the construction of the Summit flats complex. Among all this there was a budget surplus as recalled by Prof. Tissa Vitharana, a fellow comrade in arms of Dr. N.M. Perera. Though Prof. Tissa Vitharana was not in that government, the present Prime Minister, the brother of the current President was there. Having defeated Dr. Ranjith Attapattu from the Beliatta seat, Mahinda Rajapaksa, one of the youngest backbenchers of the SLFP, at the age of 24 had a front row seat during this crisis. I am sure he must be recalling these events like ‘yesterday’.

And so I thought, with firsthand experience on how to handle a crisis, the fuel hike must be the first sacrifice. Increased taxes, rationing, foregoing luxuries – cheese and butter, cakes and sweets – hard times were to come. Nevertheless we will prevail. We will get over this and emerge stronger than before and I said to myself ‘courage willow’ (for those who are unfamiliar – from the movie Willow, 1988, many years ago).

The initial shot of the President standing with the Ruwnweli Seya in the background confirmed my worst fears. However, as the talk progressed my initial apprehension eased off. The President continued to outline the issues we are facing and the actions that have been taken and that are being taken; it seemed like everything is under control. Probably things are actually not too bad after all. Now with the rumours that Basil Rajapakse is to enter Parliament and may actually bring down fuel prices, things could be in fact better than Hunky Dory.

Dr. Sumedha S. Amarasekara