Rajitha says families suffering from food insecurity has jumped by 400%

By Akitha Perera

Families suffering from food insecurity had increased by 400 percent, compared to the beginning of this year, Samagi Jana Balavegaya MP Rajitha Senaratne said on Thursday (08), addressing the media Colombo.

“In 2021 1.5 million families suffered from food insecurity according to a survey done by health officials in 2021. When they did the survey, the economic crisis had not entered the current disastrous state,” he said.

The SJB MP said that the World Food Programme (WFP) had conducted a survey in June 2022 and claimed 28% of Sri Lankan families are food insecure.

“The WFP says around six million families are food insecure. That means in a very short time, the number of people facing food insecurity has risen by 400 percent,” he said. MP Senaratne said it was an indication how things had drastically changed due to bad policies of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government.

“Unfortunately, the current government is trying to make the current nutrition crisis into a debate on definitions of malnutrition. This is probably because all the people responsible for this disaster are in the current government, too. It is obvious that the people are not eating enough now. Sources of protein are too expensive. Even grains are too expensive. Anything healthy is expensive. Because of this the growth of children is affected. Pregnant women are affected. The lack of protein is leading to all kinds of trouble,” he said.

Senaratne, who was the Health Minister in the Yahapalana government, said during his tenure, he had allocated space at the Thriposha factory to a Japanese firm that produced a nutritious rice rusk.

“Children loved it. All these have stopped. We gave all pregnant women a nutrition bag worth Rs. 20,000. That programme too has stopped. There are no medicines in hospitals and some doctors bring in equipment that have been used and thrown out of private hospitals and treat patients. They sterilize the equipment and use it in state hospitals. This is the state we are at now,” he said.