Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Politburo Member and former MP Sunil Handunnetti speaking to a press conference called in by the Party yesterday (17) said the country’s economic crisis has not only put severe pressure on the people but also has driven them into stealing pots of rice and loafs of bread from houses.
“Robbery has increased in the Northern and Eastern Provinces today to a point which did not exist even during the war. The World Food Programme (WFP) has stated that 6.3 million people people in Sri Lanka are starving today. Yesterday in Kilinochchi, I met a nine-month-old baby with his mother in a state of hyper-malnutrition. But no subsidy is given. Not even the Rs. 5000 subsidy is given by the government,” Handunnetti disclosed.
The former MP added: “Today, people have been driven into a state in which they steal the pot of rice and the loaf of bread; they have begun to break into shops. When people cannot afford to live, when they cannot afford to feed their children, the rulers have made them robbers.”
MIAP
