Fuel shortage is having drastic consequences in Sri Lanka. At petrol pumps, waiting lines are getting longer. People are gathering in the street, and peaceful demonstrations call for President Rajapaksa's departure. Sri Lanka can no longer afford fuel and is facing the worst economic crisis since independence.
A ruined country
On Tuesday, April 12, the Sri Lankan government openly announced bankruptcy. It cannot cope with the new fuel crisis and repay the foreign debt, amounting to 51 billion dollars. Another appeal is made to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Covid pandemic had already paralyzed the country's economy, affecting mainly the tourism sector. The fuel shortage is the straw that broke the camel's back. Sri Lankans are desperate about extended power cuts, shortage of food and medicine. While the authorities blame the health crisis, economists condemn poor government strategies, especially since President Rajapaksa decided to suddenly lower taxes (one of his 2019 campaign proposals.
International experts believe that 20 years of power in the hands of the powerful Rajapaksa family have led the country into an economic abyss. Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the head of the government. His brother Mahinda is the Prime Mnister, and Basil, another brother, is the Minister of Finance, who announced bankruptcy on April 12. Chamal (yet another brother) is the Minister of Agriculture. So it is clear that the current social crisis is more the result of a concentration of power than the health and energy crisis. Civil servants, employees, fishermen, monks, etc., are protesting in the street. The population demanded the government's resignation. Yet, there hasn't been any improvement.
How is the country facing聽the crisis?
Even though Rajapaksa's government resigned, the 26 ministers are acting by mutual agreement in the face of an unprecedented economic crisis. The president is also considered partly responsible for the current crisis. It's been several weeks since Sri Lankans have been voicing their discontent in the streets. However, this does not reflect the violence reported in international media. 鈥淭hese are pacific protests. The people even sing and sometimes dance when it's raining. Recently in Kandy, once the demonstration was over, students were even caught on camera cleaning the streets,鈥� say Clemence and Fabien, an expat couple in Sri Lanka (see their full interview at the end of the article). "What else could they have done?".
Everyday life in Sri Lanka is no longer what it used to be. The country can no longer afford to buy its energy due to the shortage of gas, fuel oil, and gasoline, and this shortage affects all parts of the economy. Without fuel, people can no longer buy food and medicine, to go to work, and produce. 鈥淭housands of families only have one meal a day; the children can no longer go to school as there is no petrol, and even if they go, there is no paper for writing. No gas for cooking, no electricity, no gasoline...鈥�, according to Cl茅mence and Fabien. Everyone is affected and worried about facing the next day. Businesses are exhausted. With up to 13h of power outage per day, the Internet is rare, and people are unable to work. At the port of Negombo, the fishermen spend their day waiting for better days. And they are aware that there probably won't be enough fuel for everyone. At petrol pumps, waiting lines are getting longer, along with the uncertainty of having fuel. Military forces are patrolling the streets to ensure peace and security.
"Go Gota Home"
Food shortage plunged the country a little further into the abyss. How to get foodstuff to the shops? In Colombo, the biggest fish market, which is usually lively, looks desert with nearly empty stalls. No fuel means no fishing activities, including transporting the fish, so there's hardly any merchandise to sell. Besides, the population hardly has the means to buy food. A month has gone by, and nothing has changed. Sri Lanka is breaking inflation records --20 % last month, with food prices rising to 25%. Sri Lankans continue to protest "Go Gota Home". Gota stands for Gotabaya, the maligned president. Even his most loyal supporters no longer follow. However, the protests remain peaceful as Sri Lankans support each other. A few weeks ago, even Buddhist monks student protested against the high cost of living and the government's inaction, hoping for a change.
Testimony of Clemence and Fabien
Clemence and Fabien have been expatriates in Sri Lanka since 2019. They talk to us about how聽their daily life was disrupted by the crisis, and the exemplary pacifism of the Sri Lankans, far from what is being reported in the international media.
On April 3, the entire government resigned. Has this affected your everyday life as an expat? Are the protests continuing?
Except that talking politics, which used to be a taboo, is now at the heart of debates. Demonstrations are still on and are spreading across the country.
Foreign governments have published recommendations for their citizens in terms of safety, mentioning demonstrations that can turn into acts of violence. Do you feel the concern rising among the population?
Honestly, reading this kind of comment annoys us. It has been weeks since protests have become the daily life of Sri Lankans. There have been very few incidents. People demonstrate in a pacific way, and sometimes they even sing and dance. After the protest ended, students were even filmed cleaning the streets.
For the past few days, demonstrators built a camp on a promenade in the heart of Colombo. They called it: GotaGoHomeVillage. It's amazing how the Sri Lankans keep their humour despite the situation. In this camp, there are concerts and food distributions. There's real solidarity among them. What we see here is nothing like the images of chaos depicted in the international media.
Of course, there is a growing concern among the population, and people are wondering how they will survive. Thousands of families have only one meal a day; children can no longer go to school because there is no petrol, and even if they go, there is no paper to write on. There's no gas for cooking, no electricity, no gasoline.
However, the people here are angry at the government and not at tourists. Currently, tourism is one of the few ways to bring foreign currency into the country and provide income for millions of families. So I wonder what is the purpose of the international media to make sensationalism about all this.
As an expat, how are you dealing with power cuts, fuel shortages, lack of food, etc.?
Obviously, this situation impacts our daily lives and professional activities. At the guest house, people are quite understanding. We have set up a calendar that informs us of cuts, and we act accordingly. This requires a lot of organization between cleaning, running machines, preparing breakfasts, etc. It's crazy how much electricity we consume. For our agency, it is more complicated to work without electricity, especially when the cuts last for more than 10 hours a day. So we had to adapt our schedule a lot and review our priorities. But the duration of the cuts depends on the neighbourhood. Some days we go to work outside, in a caf茅, for example, where we are sure they have electricity. We have also invested in a UPS (an inverter), which allows us to have electricity for our computers.
We still manage to organize ourselves and work. Unfortunately, this is not the case for everyone. Some of our Sri Lankan friends have restaurants, bars, and shops. When they have no electricity, they cannot work as they have no fallback solution. There are generators that run on diesel or gasoline, but since there's a shortage of fuel, these generators are not of much help.
Has the border reopening had a positive impact on tourism? What are your views as the owner of a guest house and a local responsible travel agency?
Definitely! Kimarli Fernando, the director of the tourism office in Sri Lanka, has done an excellent job. For many months, Sri Lanka has been the only Asia country open without restrictions for vaccinated people. For example, there is no compulsory PCR test requirement for people traveling from France, so tourists come in large numbers.
At the guest house, advance booking is required, but we mainly receive last minute requests at the agency. Many times people plan their trip only one month in advance. The Covid pandemic and its consequences are still very present.
You arrived in Sri Lanka in 2019. Have you observed a departure of immigrants due to the crisis? Are you planning to stay in Sri Lanka in the long term?
During the Covid peaks, many Sri Lankan immigrants returned to the country, but they have also been trying to leave since several months, as evidenced by the long queues in front of the immigration office in Kandy. Everyone wants to leave the country in search of a better life.
