Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

he people should be told this truth. Political solutions, which do not need men or women of the calibre of Einstein to identify, should be pursued with much greater vigour and a sense of urgency.A political solution, which would have to provide substantial devolution of political and financial powers island-wide - particularly to the north and the east

I have been told by teachers in the small towns and villages outside the war zones, of a large number of parents abandoning their children in public places like temples and churches, as they cannot afford to feed, clothe and care for them. People are also selling their children for a pittance!

The land in the north and east, and the adjoining seas sustained this nation in a significant manner during the food crisis in the 1970s. Rice, vegetables - including the up-country varieties, onions, fruits, fish and meat, reached the rest of the country in large quantities until the late 1980s. However, Oxford educated men such as Lalith Athulathmudali, who could not stomach the economy in Jaffna thriving, thought it fit to import Bombay onions to coincide with the onion harvests in Jaffna to spite the Tamils! The onion crop from Jaffna had to rot as a result. Such thoughtless, senseless and vengeful acts combined to alienate the Tamils and provided the conditions for the LTTE to emerge.

How long will the attempt to keep the dollar-rupee exchange rate at Rs. 110, with dollars borrowed at high interests rates from international banks work? With every dollar increase in costs of an imported product, the local cost will go up by a minimum of Rs. 110 plus the added cost of taxes. The further weakening of the rupee will add to this cost. The increased cost of transport will further add to the cost of the product.

Sri Lanka is eating into the purchasing power of these families. How long will the attempt to keep the dollar-rupee exchange rate at Rs. 110, with dollars borrowed at high interests rates from international banks work? With every dollar increase in costs of an imported product, the local cost will go up by a minimum of Rs. 110 plus the added cost of taxes. The further weakening of the rupee will add to this cost. The increased cost of transport will further add to the cost of the product.