Opp. leader demands water for farmersOpp. leader demands water for farmers

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has urged the government to release water required by farmers or be prepared to face the consequences.

Premadasa yesterday issued the following statement in support of farmers who launched a protest at Embilipitiya over a week ago demanding water for cultivation purposes: “The Satyagraha by Embilipitiya farmers has started demanding water for the crops that are blossoming and, however, the authorities of this relentless government seems to have no empathy at all.

The government has failed so far to irrigate about 75,000 acres of cultivated land, of which some 65,000 acres are under paddy cultivation. It is predicted that there may be a loss of 16.81 billion rupees from paddy cultivation in the coming week due to the existing water problem.

A serious disaster cannot be prevented because of the arbitrary decisions taken by the government from their air-conditioned rooms, and we remind the government to keep in mind the consequences of the arbitrary decision taken by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to ban chemical fertilisers.

At a time when the country is in a serious state of crisis, the government as well as the whole country will have to experience consequences due to this type of playing with the lives of farmers who provide rice to the whole country and it is suspicious whether this is the result of a subtle and cunning attempt on the part of the government to destabilize the country’s agricultural sector.

We urge the government to release water required for cultivations of farmers without deceiving them any further.

The government seems to continue in its programme of anti-social activities rather than populist activities and it should also be emphasized that the day when the government witnesses the boomerang effect of these antisocial activities is not far away.”