Page 10 - AsiaElec Week 28 2022

AsiaElec FUELS AsiaElec

Fuel supplies start to

arrive in Sri Lanka

SRI LANKA SUPPLIES of LPG have started to arrive in Sri The presidential palace was overrun by pro-
Lanka, according to media reports based in testers and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and
the country. While the deliveries may provide members of his family have fled the country to
some limited and short-term relief for the cri- the Maldives, and he has said he will resign. His
sis-stricken country, they are hardly enough to departure ends the rule of a family dynasty that
put the island nation back on track to economic has dominated Sri Lanka’s politics for the past
and political recovery. two decades.
A first shipment of 3,700 tonnes of LPG Rajapaksa’s brother Basil, a former finance
arrived on July 10, while another of 3,740 tonnes minister, is said to have fled to the United
was due on July 12, and a third cargo of 3,200 States. The whereabouts of two other brothers,
tonnes was scheduled for 15 July. Officials in Mahinda and Chamal, are unknown. Mahinda
Colombo announced that shipments of liquid served as prime minister until last May. Current
fuels such as diesel and crude oil would be deliv- Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declared
ered in the coming days. Towards the end of the a state of emergency but is since reported to have
month, more shipments of gas are also scheduled gone into hiding after protesters stormed his
to arrive. office on the morning of July 12.
It was reported in early July that President Falling foreign reserves have brought months
Gotabaya Rajapaksa has discussed buying of shortages in fuel and food supplies to Sri
Russian oil at discounted prices with President Lanka, but years of financial mismanagement
Vladimir Putin. Considering the current cir- have exacerbated the economic problems. The
cumstances, it is unlikely that anything further coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic posed a
will come from that conversation. huge problem for Sri Lanka, which relies on
Turmoil has swept through Colombo and tourism for a huge part of its foreign revenue.
other parts of the country as the economy has Tourism was also damaged by several bomb
collapsed. Government policies and allegations blasts at Christian locations on the island in
of corruption among the ruling Rajapaksa family 2019.
have left Sri Lanka without fuels, medicines and The country is estimated to have a foreign
other imported essentials. Power outages have debt of $51bn. Neighbouring India is reported to
forced schools and state-run offices to close. be willing to contribute $3.8bn to help Sri Lanka
Foodstuffs and fuel for transportation have been and the World Bank is promising $600mn. A
difficult to come by. recent gathering of G7 countries in Indonesia
The situation has led to violence in the streets. agreed to assist Sri Lanka with its debt.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 28 13•July•2022