Is media not essential?

COLOMBO (News 1st); Parliamentarian Mahindananda Aluthgamage has defined what essential services are to the people of this country.

However, it is important to go back in history to identify the caliber of this person.

State Minister Shasheendra Rajapaksa and Mahindananda Aluthgamage were two key officials responsible for the country's fertilizer crisis.

It was Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage who stood for the foolish decisions that were made by a few, and made so many failed promises to Sri Lankans, in the past.

He said Sri Lanka will receive a fertilizer shipment from China after making a payment of 6.9 million US dollars, which never reached the country.

It was Minister Aluthgamage who promised the people that farmers would be compensated for the loss in harvest, yet, no compensation has been paid so far.

Sri Lanka's media sector has fulfilled its duty as the country's watchdog, exposing the corrupt deals of those in power.

However, the Government has now declared media as a non-essential service.

There are concerns whether this has been done to suppress the media which acts as the source of accurate information. Or this is perhaps due to the fear of media, that exposes the wrongdoings of their henchmen.

On multiple occasions, the current Government has failed to disseminate clear and accurate information to the people.

Yet a matter which should never be forgotten, is that during those times, it was the media which took the effort to clarify matters to the public.