Kerosene prices, another blow to the estate worker

COLOMBO (News 1^st) - People working in the estate sector are clearly some of the poorest employed persons in the country. They were struck another crippling blow when the Government decided to increase the price of a liter of Kerosene. Kerosene for these people is an essential commodity, for those who have no access to electricity kerosene keeps the lamps lit. For those who don't have the money to buy LP gas, kerosene is the fuel that lights the stoves they cook their food on. So almost doubling the price of a liter of Kerosene does not do any favors for the people in the estate sector. There is another challenge that they face that goes unseen by many. People in Colombo and most urban areas take it for granted that they can go to a fuel station whenever they want and fill up their tanks or canisters with the fuel of their choice at the Government regulated price. However, people in the estate sector and other rural areas do not enjoy this same benefit. They instead have to rely on retail shops that sell fuel which they transport from these fuel stations. As such the price of a liter of Kerosene that is brought by someone in the estate sector could increase even more. For people living with a daily salary of as little as Rs 500 this is not just an uphill battle this is virtually impossible. Within a short span of time after celebrating the Sinhala and Tamil new year, the people of the estate sector have been dealt multiple blows first due to the increase in the cost of essential goods and now by the increase in fuel prices.