ජීවන බර සැහැල්ලු කිරීමට ඉක්මන් පියවර ගත යුතුයි
Fuel, telephone and electricity prices have risen, with food, bus fares and postal charges following. The editorial says the new UNF government, like its predecessors, blames the previous regime rather than acting, and that while business relief in the first budget is justified, business has been the main driver of price rises. A government must at least cushion the burden, and should not use the peace effort to cover popular discontent.
බලශක්ති අර්බුදය හා පිරීමැස්ම
With five-hour daily power cuts crippling the economy, and the energy minister promising a solution within 180 days, Ivan notes that households use 30 per cent of electricity. He proposes making energy-saving bulbs compulsory, paid for in instalments through electricity bills, which he estimates could save 22 per cent of consumption and two hours of cuts, and suggests generating power from urban garbage.
නරින්ට කුකුළන් බාරදිම
Tourism Minister Gamini Lokuge has said the management agreement for SriLankan Airlines should be reviewed. The editorial notes that since management passed to Emirates there are no direct flights to Germany or Italy, key tourist markets, and that Sri Lanka cannot change this despite majority ownership. Handing the airline to a regional competitor was like giving Lake House to a rival newspaper, and those who criticised the deal in opposition must now correct it.
උපාධිධාරින්ගේ රක්ෂෂා ප්රශ්නය
About 30,000 graduates are said to be unemployed, and police reportedly attacked a group protesting at Temple Trees, while the government blames the JVP. Ivan points to a mismatch between university education and the job market, calls for rapid vocational training, notes the World Bank condition limiting the public wage bill, and argues that job growth depends on peace, so graduates should support it while the government hires on merit without political influence.
හවුල් ආණ්ඩු දේශපාලනය
The editorial argues that the People’s Alliance government will be remembered for arrogance, inefficiency and corruption. It contrasts the hopes placed in Chandrika Kumaratunga with elections won by thuggery since 1997, development stalled and the Electricity Board’s savings turned into debt, and a one-woman government in which she took the finance portfolio and alienated her own cabinet.
රට බිංදුවට වැටීම
With the services and manufacturing sectors collapsing, economic growth has fallen to zero and may turn negative, bringing soaring prices and job losses. The editorial says the rulers are absorbed in the political crisis, investors are pulling back and state institutions barely function. It argues that an early parliamentary election is the best way to end political instability, which is a precondition for overcoming the economic crisis.
රට අඳුරෙන් අඳුරට
Power cuts have grown from one and a half to two and a half hours a day, adding to the political darkness, but were suspended on nights of cricket and presidential speeches. The editorial recalls the 1996 promises that there would be no more cuts, accepts that opposition to the Norochcholai coal plant was short-sighted, and says the real issue is government inaction: the Electricity Board had a surplus of about Rs. 8,000 crore in 1994 and now owes about the same.
ඇස්සට දත නියවීම
With educated youth unemployed, Sri Lanka is importing nurses from Kerala; the Health Secretary expects 5,000 to be needed within five years and private hospitals already employ hundreds. Government hospitals have 14,750 nurses against 30,000 needed, and pharmacists, radiographers and technicians are also short. The piece asks why students who miss medical entry are not trained for these jobs, noting unemployment of 13 per cent among women and 19.6 per cent among those with A-levels.
පාන් වෙනුවට කේක්
In a television interview the President denied an economic slide or real price rises and claimed a bank driver earns Rs. 60,000 while a minister gets Rs. 19,000. The editorial corrects her figures, noting ministers earn about Rs. 29,815 tax-free and that some have built mansions since 1994, reads her remarks on executive power as a warning, and likens her message to Marie Antoinette’s.
මුදල් අර්බුදයේ නොපෙනෙන පැති කිහිපයක
Ivan examines the floating of the rupee and its fallout: importers ruined by paying at the new exchange rate for goods sold at the old, daily price rises, and likely shortages at the Sinhala New Year. He traces the drain on reserves to war purchases, duty-free vehicles and bulletproof BMWs for politicians, crony privatisation, Air Lanka’s aircraft and fuel subsidies, and falling aid, and doubts that exports, heavily dependent on imported inputs for garments, can close the gap.