Disappointment instead of Relief, says Sajith

Disappointment instead of Relief, says Opposition Leader

by Zulfick Farzan 26-08-2021 | 7:38 PM

COLOMBO (News 1st); Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa on Thursday (26) alleged that the government has taken away the relief package provided to the quarantined people and has then dealt another blow targeting the helpless population of the country.

The "so-called relief bag" of Rs. 1998 by the government that replaced the Rs. 5000 / = allowance has further inconvenienced the people, he noted, adding that the government has falsely claimed that the relief bag will be delivered free of charge to those who order it.

"It is also a complete fraud and the government has taken steps to further inconvenience the people instead of providing relief given the present situation in the country," he said.

After the appointment of the new Minister of Finance, who boasted of bringing prosperity to the country, commodity prices have risen more sharply than ever before, and the economy has collapsed, he alleged.

"Last week the price of a kilogram of sugar was Rs. 160 and in a week it has increased by Rs. 50. It shows how the government has lost control over prices," he said.

"There is a severe shortage of milk powder in the market and the prices of many consumer goods including fuel, gas, rice, medicines, and bread have gone up," he further said.

The Opposition Leader went on to note that the government minister requesting diplomats for their assistance to secure medicinal drugs clearly demonstrates that the government is not competent to provide for the people, though many ministers claim there are sufficient stocks of medicinal drugs in the country.

Referring to recent news reports, Premadasa said that the deletion of information stored in the cloud of the National Drug Regulatory Authority, which includes information such as prescriptions, orders, registrations, etc., is a matter of serious concern, , while calling for an independent and impartial investigation over the matter.