SJB: People are dying from starvation

By Saman Indrajith

The SJB yesterday told Parliament that people were dying of starvation and all those who had been in the Cabinet of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa should be held responsible for the prevailing crises and the people’s suffering.

Participating in the debate on the interim Budget presented to the House by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, SJB Kurunegala District MP Thushara Indunil Amarasena said that the majority of people no longer consumed three meals a day. “Many families skip one meal. Now flour prices have been increased; they cannot eat roti. All those who were in the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Cabinet are responsible for this crisis. Gotabaya has been removed. That is not enough. What about those who formulated the economic policies that ruined this country? What about the ministers who endorsed the fertiliser ban? They, too, should pay for the present crisis. They cannot absolve themselves of the responsibility for what has befallen the country. “The culprits should be behind bars, but they have been given ministerial posts in this government, too. The very same faces were in the Chandrika Kumaratunga’s Cabinet, the Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Cabinet, the Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Cabinet and now again in the current Cabinet. It is they who have stolen public money and landed the country in the current predicament.”