Jaffna people hit by ever-soaring prices and raging debates over A9

UN officials to implement new plan to provide food supplies to peninsula via ship, says govt.

By Chris Kamalendran

Weeks of debate over measures to overcome the food crisis in the Jaffna peninsula continues, while the food situation worsens and a fresh dispute arising over government plans to send a food convoy by the A9 road. The government’s latest effort to ease the food shortages in the Jaffna peninsula by sending a large convoy as a one off measure to the peninsula by the A9 has been rejected by the LTTE on the grounds that if the road can be opened once, then it could be kept open throughout.

The government on Friday called private traders to register their lorries with the Essential Services Commissioner to send supplies to the Jaffna peninsula along the A9 road, but the LTTE said it was yet to be informed about the plan to send the supplies through areas it controlled.

The LTTE has charged that the government’s announcement to open the A 9 road to send one food convoy came ahead of the Co-chairs meeting in Washington and that it was made to convince the international community that all measures were being taken by the government to send food supplies to Jaffna.

As the debate continues on the mode of transporting food to the Jaffna peninsula, food prices were further sky rocketing amidst reports of severe scarcity. “Private shop keepers are reducing their staff. Some of the shops have closed down their business establishments as they do not have sufficient stocks and therefore no work for their employees,” a Jaffna Chamber of Commerce spokesman told The Sunday Times.

On Friday, the average price of a kilogram of vegetable had shot up to over Rs. 400 while rice was selling at Rs. 160 per kilo. A coconut was over Rs. 60 while a kilogram of fish was around Rs. 1,000. Potatoes are hardly available in the peninsula. Garlic prices had shot up to Rs. 1,000 a kilogram while ginger was selling at Rs. 2,000.

Residents in the area said that people including schoolchildren line up at bakeries before dawn, when the curfew is lifted, to buy bread which is fast becoming a scarce commodity and selling at Rs. 30 a loaf. Supplies from Colombo by sea have been further curtailed due to rough seas and the food items are confined to rice, dhal, milk powder and kerosene and diesel. This has sent the price of other food items soaring.

Jaffna’s Government Agent K.Ganesh had requested the government to send 24,000 Metric tonnes of food for November, but so far only three shipments have been sent to the peninsula by sea amounting to 11,000 Metric tonnes. The shortage of food is also increasing the incidents of malnutrition mainly among children, health officials in the peninsula have warned.

Meanwhile, Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told The Sunday Times, UN officials who visited Sri Lanka have given a preliminary report on the modalities of transporting food supplies to Jaffna by ship. “We expect them to put into operation a plan within the next three weeks. They would be sending supplies under the World Food Programme that will supplement the government supplies to the peninsula,” he said.

He said UN officials would not only be seeing to the supply of food but will also be overseeing the distribution. They have also agreed to upgrade the government warehouses and maintain a buffer stock to prevent any further shortages, Mr. Samarasinghe said.

Though the Indian government agreed to send nearly 6,000 Metric tonnes of essential food items and medicines to Jaffna the stocks are yet to reach the north. The delay has been attributed to the non-availability of ships.