Today we are witnessing a new risk experience a global pandemic
which one gets to experience in a lifetime. Sri Lanka has experienced many
natural and man-made disasters and has successfully recovered most. Therefore,
the lessons and experiences gained during the disasters will certainly help
them recover from these risks to some extend; however the coronavirus infection
which is spreading today is new risk which has affected not only the developing
countries, but many developed countries as well.
In this context, the economic and
human losses of many countries have been a major challenge globally, and as IMF
warns will be a too larger damage to recover
from due to the Corona virus disease 2019 ( COVID_19). Due to the whole of
government and whole of the society approach that Sri Lanka too we have been
able to successfully contain the disease to a certain extent. The immediate,
measure we took is an example for other countries i.e immediate lockdown,
initiating quarantine, relief measures to solve the economic problems . As the
WHO Chief has alluded, Sri Lanka was one of the first countries to take
pro-active steps against the coronavirus, well before it was declared a
pandemic by the WHO. This is an
indication of great leadership of our
country in this disaster situation.
Leadership and international cooperation
Only a sober leader can bring the country under control. Also,
good partnerships with other countries and agencies can only be mutually
beneficial. Our President HE Gotabhaya Rajapakshe set an example by demonstrating
this in the absence of a parliamentary function in the country today. He has
continuously emphasized that during this situation what’s most important is
that the people of the country should be saved. Although some continuously seem
to lack understand the gravity of the situation and are trying to politicize
the situation. Given are below some good decisions and measures that were taken
by HE the President to restore the country.
Firstly, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa proposed to leaders of South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to formulate a collective
response to combat COVID – 19. He further called for SAARC Ministerial Meeting
to discuss measures to overcome this deadly health threat. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa made this point
clear in the teleconference with SAARC leaders, where he pledged US$ 5 million
towards mitigation efforts. So now, people realize that today “we have a great
leader from a small country”.
Sri Lanka has used its powerful quarantine laws and the
well-established free healthcare system to take all measures to prevent the
spread of the pandemic. It was an added advantage that Sri Lanka already
consisted of a good network of healthcare facilities and preventive health
network that could be utilized.
In a further sign of international recognition of Sri Lanka’s
handling of this unprecedented crisis, the World Bank too has pledged US$ 128.6
million (approx. Rs.25,000 million) to Sri Lanka. The new fast track package
will benefit the entire Sri Lankan population and prioritize stopping or
slowing the spread of the virus, reducing case numbers, and preventing
outbreaks in communities.
On 23 March, a relief fund called "COVID-19
Healthcare and Social Security Fund" to combat
the novel coronavirus pandemic. The President himself contributed about
Rs. 100 million from President Fund addtionally the general public was given the opportunity to delay the monthly
electricity, water payments until 30
April.
Further the government did not neglect the agriculture and
services sector and has taken necessary actions to resolve the issues faced by them
by allowing farmers, estate workers, bankers, fishermen and cleaners to carry
on their duties amid curfews. The
benefit of this was twofold, the services were not interrupted and the daily
earnings of these people was not affected.
Government
immediate measures
Work from home
The "work from home" action taken by the government to
control the disease highlights the fact that learning from global counterparts
we too initiated the immediate measures. Public gathering were banned and that public
and private sector were urged to use technological means such as e-mail, SMS,
telephone, and e-meetings. These new technologies were incorporated to our
system with ease, something which should have done long time ago to cut down
unnecessary expenditure. A leader with a global vision could only do these and
although being a resource poor country our President HE Gotabhya Rajapashe laid
the ground for this. Work from home assures public services continue without
any disruption meanwhile essential services including health, public
administration, transportation, banking, food, water, electricity, etc.
Reduced essential good price
Considering the urgency and the economic hardships of the people,
the president has reduced the cost of many of the essentials goods. It is a
great comfort to the people i.e price controls on lentils, capped at Rs. 65 a
kilogram, and fixed a maximum retail price of Rs. 100 for canned fish. maximum
retail price of eggs has been reduced to Rs. 10.
Home delivery Services
Now, due to the curfew in force, the program of providing
essential services at the doorstep of the people has begun and people do not go
out to meet their needs. That is commendable. The government has also urged the
main supermarkets of the country such as Cargills, Arpico Super Centre, Keells Super, Sathosa and LAUGFS Holdings to sell the
products to the customers via home delivery methods. Its better late than
never. Sri Lanka never had these facility earlier. However majority of the
countries had such facilities and it would be helpful of these are continued
even after controlling the disease.
President relief measures for import and export goods and
others
The President has issued directives to the Central Bank Governor,
all ministry secretaries, chief secretaries of Provincial Councils, heads of
all banks and leasing companies to grant these relief measures for the economic
recovery of the country's people. We list below the most important decisions so far.
· In the interest of the public, Sri Lanka Ports
Authority, Sri Lanka Customs and all other regulatory bodies have taken all
measures to continue the issuance of all essential food items, fertilizer,
medicine and fuel – uninterrupted.
·
Clearance of imported essential goods:
Arrangements have been made to facilitate the clearance of imported essential
goods such as food items, perishable goods, medicines, medical devices and
related items. Further, bulk cargo such as gas, petroleum, fertilizers, cement,
etc., and any raw material or commodity intended for the production of
essential goods shall also be cleared during this period.
·
Clearance of urgent exports: Arrangements have
been made to facilitate the clearance of urgent exports. However, a limited
number of exports will be facilitated per day to prevent unnecessary
overcrowding.
·
The trainee salary of 20,000 rupees for the
month of March, of all graduates who were recruited, will be deposited to their
bank accounts.
·
The benefits of the “Agrahara Insurance Claim”
at the National Insurance Trust Fund, for all state employees in the sectors of
Health, Police, Civil Security Forces will be doubled.
·
The charging of leasing installments of
three-wheeler owners have been suspended for 6 months while the charging of
loan payments in installment basis of non-executive staff of both public and
private sectors, from their salaries has been suspended till the 30th of May
2020.
·
The charging of personal loans below 1 million
rupees, granted by all banks has been suspended for 3 months.
·
The six months grace period or the DEBT
MORATORIUM, for the Tourism, Textile, small and medium scale businesses will be
implemented and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka will undertake the refinance of
that money.
·
The settlement of all revenue and Value Added
Taxes, payment of renewal of driver’s license, payment of electricity and water
bills that are below 15,000 rupees, payment of rates, the validity of bank
cheques, payment of monthly credit card bills of below 50,000 rupees, will be
extended till the 30th of April.
·
An advance of 10,000 rupees – free of interest
to be provided for all Samurdhi recipients and those holding the Samurdhi card.
·
Lanka Sathosa Limited and all Co-operative
stores in the country will be released of Value Added Taxes and other
divisional taxes and charges.
·
Sri Lanka – Samurdhi Authority must
immediately issue Certificates of the Beneficiary for all Samurdhi recipients
and low-income families, to facilitate the issuance of nutritious food. Rice,
Dhal and Onion must be provided for those families, elders and those with a low
income, weekly, through Food Cards.
·
A special account has been opened in the
President’s Fund at the Bank of Ceylon to provide concessions to ensure the
health and security of the society, in preventing the spread of COVID-19. A sum
of 100 million rupees has already been deposited to the account from the
President’s Fund.
·
The Government has announced a fresh measure
to establish a task force to be headed by former Minister Basil Rajapaksa to
deliver parcels of goods to households.
Summary
Parliament and provincial councils are defunct. The President of
the country is leading the fight against the coronavirus, combining several
advanced measures, including state and private sector employees, with the three
forces.
Due to the timely good measures, this pandemic has caused very few
deaths and the number of cases have not surged compared to other countries.
This would not be possible without a strong leadership. This is
the trust that our people placed on him ; A good leadership to steer the
country towards development . However it also has to be mentioned that the
President makes all his decisions based on the facts and figures the technical
people whom he has placed his trust gives him. It’s our duty to carry on the
task duty bound and not breaching the trust he placed on us without vested
interest. Otherwise, it would be catastrophic like other countries and the
generations to come would have to bear the brunt. We as citizens in this country appreciates his
leadership in this crisis.
S.Thanigaseelan,
Assistant
Director, NHRDC
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