SJB National Organiser blames govt. for mismanagement of economy

By Anuradha Hiripitiyage

Many Sri Lankans had not been able to celebrate the Sinhala and Tamil New Year due to the economic mismanagement of the government, SJB National Organiser Tissa Attanayake said yesterday.

The government had learnt nothing from steps taken by other nations to manage the issues created by the COVID-19 pandemic, Attanayake said.

“The government seems to believe that the economy could fix itself without state intervention. This is not how countries that successfully managed the pandemic acted. While the rupee has depreciated for many years, we haven’t seen this kind of collapse in decades,” Attanayake said.

The SJB MP said that almost all the steps taken by government had benefitted a small group of businessmen.

“There have been many tax cuts but they have all benefitted the rich. The tax cuts have reduced state revenue, so there is little we can do,” he said.

The government had also reduced the number of PCR tests conducted daily and important health decisions were being taken without accurate statistics, Attanayake said.

“The government has also bungled up the vaccination process. Depending solely on the AstraZeneca vaccine made in India was a terrible mistake. Given the spike in cases in India we might not get the ordered vaccines for the second dose. Can we give the second dose using Chinese or Russian vaccines? How do we vaccinate the rest of the population?”