‘Govt. mindful of people’s woes and doing its best to reduce CoL’ President Mahinda Rajapaksa meets editors of national newspapers
The government was aware of the economic woes of the public and it was doing everything possible to give them relief, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The government was aware of the economic woes of the public and it was doing everything possible to give them relief, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The President said that increases in the prices of some commodities were due to various factors such as price hikes in the world market and a drop in the local supply because of heavy rains and natural disasters. He said his government was duty bound to protect the vulnerable sections of society who had to bear the brunt of price increases.
Read moreIn tackling the problem of high prices, the President said, the government in some cases had to perform a balancing act because it had to safeguard the interests of both consumers and producers alike. He cited the potato prices as an example. Consumers had been happy to see potato prices plummet but the farmers in the hill country had taken to the streets demanding government intervention to prevent the prices decreasing further. And his government had been compelled to increase import duty on potatoes to protect the local producers, he said.
The President said the prices of locally produced food items were no longer determined at the village level due to the presence of super market chains even in semi urban areas exerting a pull on the prices of goods at even ‘polas’. When the prices of chillies went up in Colombo, farmers of Moneragala were prompted to raise the farm gate prices because of the swift flow of information. He said he was hopeful that when the weather improved and the supply increased, prices would stabilize before long.
No one should fear a shortage of rice as there were enough stocks though the paddy crop had suffered damage in some areas due to floods. He said the situation had been far worse in the run-up to the last presidential election as some traders had jacked up prices of rice arbitrarily for political reasons and rice was selling at prices as high as Rs. 120 at that time.
While the government was doing its best to contain prices and give relief to the people, the President said, they could also help step up the national food production by cultivating their home gardens. He said he had set an example by growing vegetables in the Temple Trees garden. "I make it a point to show my garden to the schoolchildren who visit me so that they would be inspired to emulate the example when they return home," he said.
The President took a swipe at tipplers and smokers. "They waste a lot of money on cigarettes and arrack," he said, "and they complain of prices only when they buy essential goods."
It was wrong for anyone to say that the government was oblivious to the people’s economic difficulties, the President said adding that its critics should not lose sight of the difficulties of the government as well in view of world market prices and natural disasters.
‘Opposition ruining country’s image internationally’
The President lashed out at the Opposition for what he called tarnishing the image of the country by carrying out adverse propaganda offensives. "I don’t mind the government being criticised but what the Opposition is doing is to ruin the country’s image internationally," he said.
"The Opposition seems to be more active abroad than here," the President said accusing Opposition and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe of having written to the EU and caused GSP Plus trade concession to be scrapped and of having used a Commonwealth function to damage the country’s reputation on the pretext of criticising the government. He said the Sri Lankan Opposition should learn from its Indian counterpart, which was campaigning hard against the government at home but acted responsibly outside India without endangering its interests in any manner.
Asked why he did not discuss the matter with the Opposition instead of lambasting it, the President said the Opposition could not speak with one voice. "There are various factions in the UNP making contradictory statements," he said claiming that some of them even did not want the UNP to talk to the government.
‘Cabinet paper presented on how to help disaster victims’
The President said he himself had presented a Cabinet paper spelling out action to be taken to help the disaster victims. He said those recommendations would be made public shortly.
Steps had already been taken to assist the disaster stricken people. "Most of them are daily paid workers and we are employing them in reconstruction work," the President said. "We have paid compensation to victims and are distributing rations among other things."
Most of the houses destroyed by floods were unauthorised structures, the President said. "We have allocated about 200 acres to relocate the people living in areas prone to landslides in Kandy."
Land was being acquired in Nuwara Eliya as well to build houses for the people living in such places, the President said.
‘State workers have got decent pay hikes’
When it was pointed out that the government had let down the public servants by reneging on its promise to grant them a 2,500-rupee pay hike, the President claimed that even a new recruit in the state service drawing Rs. 11,500, being the minimum salary of government workers, had got a pay hike of not less than Rs. 1,200 from this year’s budget. There were some categories of workers who had got more than Rs. 3,500 each, he said.
Secretary to the Treasury Dr. P. B. Jayasundera, who was present at the meeting, said immense financial benefits had accrued to most workers in the state sector from the rectification of salary anomalies and overall their income had increased considerably.
LG polls: IGP ordered to deal with troublemakers
The President said he had ordered IGP Mahinda Balasuriya to crack down on anyone responsible for violence and flouting election laws. He attributed most election related incidents to battles for preferential votes.
"Some candidates are in the habit of even printing posters with God Kataragama on one side and their numbers on the other," a smiling President said.
The President said he was aware that most candidates considered the on-going cricket matches a curse as they distracted the public from election campaigns. One candidate had told him that when he visited houses to distribute leaflets, he found people glued to TV screens enjoying matches without bothering to listen to him.
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