{"id":1409622,"date":"2022-03-30T09:29:40","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T13:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1409622"},"modified":"2022-03-30T09:29:47","modified_gmt":"2022-03-30T13:29:47","slug":"protests-as-sri-lanka-runs-out-of-fuel-food-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/protests-as-sri-lanka-runs-out-of-fuel-food-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Protests as Sri Lanka Runs out of Fuel, Food, Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fprotests-as-sri-lanka-runs-out-of-fuel-food-medicine%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1409622&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">Anti-government protests have been \u201cwidespread\u201d across Sri Lanka for the past month due to the island nation\u2019s worsening financial crisis, which has seen Sri Lankans go without sufficient food, fuel, and medicine for weeks, India\u2019s the <em>Week<\/em> magazine <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theweek.in\/theweek\/cover\/2022\/03\/24\/food-and-fuel-shortage-triggers-widespread-protests-in-sri-lanka.html?fbclid=IwAR3MM1uILjFYFSFiea8qt-1jWb1BpYPzBwyg_1Ya3SjzpDZrfOyx2mM2ZVI\">reported<\/a>\u00a0this week for its April 3 issue.<\/p>\n<p>Protests against the administration of Sri Lankan President\u00a0Gotabaya Rajapaksa took place on March 7 in\u00a0Sri Lanka\u2019s administrative capital of Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte. The <em>Week<\/em> sent a reporter to the city to witness the protests and interview two participants of the demonstrations.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Detailing the event, the magazine wrote:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Weerasekara recently went to Sri Lanka\u2019s administrative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, to take part in a protest against the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government. \u201cIt took place on March 6 and 7. I went there both days,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will at least show our problems to those who live in luxury bungalows.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On March 7, people in the capital were seen holding placards saying, \u201cEnough of corruption\u201d, \u201cGotabaya go home\u201d and \u201cWhy have you made us beggars?\u201d Udhitha Deshapriya, a civil engineer, said Sri Lankans had been suffering for a long time. \u201cThere has to be a solution. I am here to register my protest,\u201d he said. Rajitha Gunasekara, a banker who lost his job recently, said the incumbent government should go. \u201cDo we actually need a government that makes us live like beggars?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Sky News also reported on March 29 that Sri Lanka\u2019s economic crisis \u201chas sparked protests across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince the beginning of March, the Sri Lankan rupee has fallen by almost 45% against the US dollar and its foreign exchange reserves have fallen to crisis levels,\u201d the British news outlet <a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/sri-lanka-faces-worst-ever-economic-crisis-triggering-food-and-fuel-shortages-and-protests-12577375\">observed<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<div id=\"attachment_20448605\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1239587253.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>People queue to buy diesel at a Ceylon Petroleum Corporation fuel station in Colombo on March 29, 2022. (ISHARA S. KODIKARA\/AFP via Getty)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Sri Lanka\u2019s financial woes center upon a shortage of foreign currency. The tropical island nation of Sri Lanka, located off the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent, has traditionally relied almost entirely upon its tourism sector and remittances by Sri Lankan laborers abroad to fuel its import-dependent economy. The Chinese coronavirus pandemic has all but decimated the amount of foreign currency entering Sri Lanka over the past two years and left Sri Lankan traders unable to pay for imports.<\/p>\n<p>Sri Lanka\u2019s nearly total dependency on imports means the island has suffered from extreme levels of essential good shortages over the past month as the nation essentially ran out of foreign currency reserves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn February, essential food inflation rose by 25% and overall inflation is close to 18%, while people have been forced to queue for hours to buy fuel, amid rocketing prices,\u201d Sky News reported on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince the beginning of March, the Sri Lankan rupee has fallen by almost 45% against the US dollar and its foreign exchange reserves have fallen to crisis levels,\u201d according to the news site.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20448569\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1239615063.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-20448569\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1239615063-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"990\" height=\"660\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Federation of Sinhala Organization activists protest against rising living costs outside the Central Bank of Sri Lanka front office in Colombo on March 30, 2022. (ISHARA S. KODIKARA\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cPeople in many parts of the country had to wait in queues [on March 28] to purchase essential food items provided at concessionary prices by the Sathosa,\u201d the Sri Lankan news website <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfirst.lk\/2022\/03\/29\/hundreds-in-line-opposite-sathosa-for-essentials\/\">News 1st<\/a> reported on March 29. Sathosa is a Sri Lankan state-owned retail business.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cPeople in Chunnakam, Jaffna had been waiting in line for hours on Monday (28) to get the relevant essential items,\u201d according to the news outlet.<\/p>\n<p>News 1st further revealed that Sri Lankans nationwide had their power supplies <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfirst.lk\/2022\/03\/27\/power-cuts-scheduled-for-monday-28\/\">cut off<\/a> for as long as seven hours at a time on March 29 due to the state\u2019s need to ration energy during its financial crisis.<\/p>\n<p>Sri Lanka\u2019s fuel shortages, which made international headlines last week for allegedly causing some frustrated\u00a0Sri Lankans to attack and even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/03\/22\/sri-lanka-deploys-troops-fuel-shortage-prompts-alleged-murders\/\">murder<\/a> each other, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfirst.lk\/2022\/03\/29\/gas-queues-continue-across-sri-lanka\/\">continued<\/a> on March 29 according to News 1st.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople gathered at the Polwatta Stadium in Ambalangoda on Tuesday (29) morning to obtain gas,\u201d the news website relayed.<\/p>\n<p>Sri Lanka\u2019s Peradeniya Teaching Hospital was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfirst.lk\/2022\/03\/29\/medicine-shortage-only-emergency-surgeries-at-peradeniya-hospital\/\">forced<\/a> to order a temporary suspension of all non-emergency surgeries from March 28 to March 29 to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymirror.lk\/top_story\/Shortage-of-medicines-hits-hospitals-scheduled-surgeries-at-Peradeniya-Hospital-suspended\/155-234046\">conserve<\/a> its dwindling supply of medicines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anti-government protests have been \u201cwidespread\u201d across Sri Lanka for the past month due to the island nation\u2019s worsening financial crisis, which has seen Sri Lankans go without sufficient food, fuel,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1409622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1409622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1409622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1409622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1409622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1409622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1409622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}