Sri Lanka to face unprecedented fuel and food crisis

Sri Lanka is now facing unprecedented fuel and food crisis paralysing the whole country and the people will have to starve as a result of the break down in the supply chain with in the next few weeks, traders and food commodity transporters claimed

With nearly 5.7 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, Colombo faces a serious challenge with food shortages, fall in agricultural production and destruction of livelihoods.

With only a few container transporters in operation, the food commodity stock trasportaion has become stand still due to shoartage of disel and priority should be given to this sector in providing disel that is vital in resuming trasportaion of food commodity stocks between the port and the export zonesas well as key markets countrywide.

The All Island Container Transport Owners Federation Chairman Sanath Manjula noted that for about several weeks there has been an acute shortage of diesel as a result of which only a few of their container transporters are in operation in the Western province specially Colombo at present.

He noted that currently they are operational only within Colombo since they do not have any fuel available outside of the commercial capital.

Fuel distribution has become stand still except the supply to Ports , Ceylon Electricity Board , SL Army and bus depots

The World Food Programme’s (WFP) situation report on Sri Lanka has presented some alarming details on the ongoing food security crisis in the island nation.



With almost 4.9 million out of Sri Lanka’s 22 million population currently facing food insecurity, the economic crisis in the country is threatening the life and livelihood of the masses.



According to the Sri Lanka situation report released by the WFP on June 14, an estimated 5.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in 25 districts across the country after months of economic meltdown.



The United Nations (UN) and the WFP have jointly launched an emergency response called ‘Humanitarian Needs and Priorities Plan’ targeting assistance for 1.7 million people in the country.



Another report, released on June 9 by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), has highlighted the country’s “multidimensional crisis” marked by high levels of food security coupled with a debt and balance-of-payments crisis.



The Ceylon Petrolium Corporation(CPC) is now not ina position to meet the daily disel demand of 6000 MT and 3500 MT of Petrol, official sources confirmed.

The current balance stock of fuel at Kollonnawa and Muthurajawela storage terminals was 10,000 MT of disel and1000 MT of 92 octane petrol and 4000 MT of 95 octane petrol and 11 fuel distribution centres of Ceypetco have been keeping closed.

25 percent of power generation is still being carried out using thermal power generators and the public transportation has become near standstill.

Paddy harvesting of Batticaloa and Ampara paddy fields is ready to commence but harvesting machines cannot be operated without diselas thr was no supply to these areas up to now, several agrarian officials said.