SJB to go ahead with protest march today 

By Rathindra Kuruwita

 The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) would go ahead with the scheduled protest march, today, party General Secretary, Ranjith Madduma Bandara said yesterday.

Madduma Bandara made the announcement after Colombo Chief Magistrate Buddika Sri Ragala refused to issue an order preventing the protest.

“The government is using the police and health officials to stop the protest, but we will go ahead,” Madduma Bandara said, adding that the government had destroyed Sri Lankan agriculture and people would have to starve in 2022. It was also selling state assets in a desperate bid to finance the most basic government functions, he said.

“We will hold a massive protest against this. Now the police are trying to intimidate our organisers and are threatening bus owners. However, the government can’t stop us,” Madduma Bandara said.

MP Rajitha Senaratne said that the police had established a number of barricades in the Kalutara District to stop people from taking part in the protest.

“A few days ago, the SLPP held its fifth anniversary in Colombo. Neither the police nor the health officers said anything. The government is using COVID health guidelines for political purposes. People are no longer cooperating with health officers because they know that these laws are being misused. They are not implemented equally.”