News
Virus kicks a battered people in the stomach
View(s):Daily wage-earners, farmers, small traders, tourism-related business owners, and the self-employed such as three-wheeler operators and street vendors of art, are staring at the bottom of the economic barrel.
Although the government has offered to pay a basic Rs 5,000 per family, for the majority, this is not long-term sustenance.
KANDY
Pushpakumar and his family face eviction
Fifty one year-old Sisira Pushpakumar is on the verge of being evicted after he failed to pay last month’s rent.
Puspakumar is a daily wage-earner who lives with his two children and his wife at 100 Poornawatte in Mahiyawa, Kandy.
He is among many others who are unable to pay rent and facing eviction. Landlords who depend on rental income are also desperate.
“I would be thrown out of the house at the end of the month if I cannot pay the rent. The landlord has warned that If I do not pay the rent of Rs 10,000 I would have to leave,’’ Mr Pushpakumar, said. He said authorities have not looked into the perils facing those renting homes and landlords who are not merciful despite the virus crisis.
Sisira Pushpakumar
“We should be given a few months’ [break] to pay the rent,’’ he said.
“I have been out of work for the last month and because of the curfew no one employs me,’’ he said.
He now depends on food relief distributed in the area and that too is not enough for the family including his two children aged 14 and six years.
MATARA
Clothing and textile shops have no customers
Mr A R M Zahir, 49 who operates a textile/clothing shop in Matara was preparing for a good Sinhala Tamil New Year season business when the coronavirus choked off the country.
“We have five employees and I am opening my shop soon as the curfew is lifted so that I can pay their salaries. It is a tough situation,’’ he said on Thursday after curfew was lifted in the area for a few hours.
“I don’t have enough income to pay salaries. We earn just about 10% compared to a normal day’s earnings. But still that money is useful to pay the workers,’’ he said.
A R M Zahir
“We were preparing for new year sales and we have lost around Rs 1 million to Rs 1.5 million this season.
“It’s a question how to survive in future. People are afraid. We already have some money to pay salaries and also to honour cheques we have issued.’’
He said most people depend on a daily wage.
“I hope after two months, everything will be okay. I’m thankful to the health sector and security forces for all their efforts,’’ he said.
NUWARA ELIYA
Hoteliers suffer second blow as peak season is hit again
Mahinda Dodampegama, a hotel owner who also served as mayor for Nuwara Eliya, said hoteliers and guest house owners have suffered a second economic blow within a year.
“The hoteliers were just recovering after last year’s Easter Sunday bombings and expecting a good turnout this season when they were affected by the coronavirus crisis,’’ he said.
He said nearly a third of the population in Nuwara Eliya is directly connected to the tourist trade and about two thirds depend on this income.
He said the district offers some 5,000 rooms with several private guest houses and even star class hotels.
“We believe that there should be a special programme to revive the tourist industry in the district as they have already suffered from the Easter Sunday bombings,” he said.
No one to witness April's blooms
BANDARAGAMA
H Rumesh Indika Perera
The police curfew has in some cases made people take desperate measures.
A young farmer at Kindelpitiya in Bandaragama on the outskirts of Colombo, Rumesh Indika Perera, has been forced to destroy his own Mukunuwenna crop as there are no buyers.
Mukunuwenna crops destroyed
“There is no point harvesting the Mukunuwenna as nobody is buying. I am spraying chemicals to kill the plants,’’ Rumesh said.
He is appealing to the government to intervene and prevent other farmers from doing the same as some of the crop is still available.
He had been able to supply quality green leaves and some 30-35 families in the area engage in such cultivations.
GREEN PATH, COLOMBO
What used to be a familiar site
Several informal sectors, too, have felt the adverse impact.
The street artists who used to sell their paintings alongside Green Path, Colombo 7 are among those affected.
A C Nuwan, president, Open Art Gallery, Green Path, said some 60 street artists were members of their group and last year too they were affected with the Easter Sunday bombings with sales dropping by 60%.
A C Nuwan
However, now they will be further affected as foreigners are their main buyers.
“Art is playing a major role in society to balance it, sociologically and physiologically, like sport. But as a society we are missing both,’’ he said.
“People are buying art only if they have extra money after spending for basic needs. For some it’s a symbol of social status. We think it will take years for society to return to normal.
“As a group we are willing to help to bring normalcy to our country.’’
KESBEWA
Anura Priyashantha
With more than one million three-wheelers in the country and a majority of them running hires on a daily basis, drivers are among those whose livelihood are badly affected.
Anura Priyashantha, 35, depends on his three-wheeler and is severely affected.
“I usually earn up to Rs 60,000 a month, and after paying the monthly lease for the vehicle I could manage the home expenses,’’ Priyashantha, a father of two, said.
He said 22 three-wheelers operate from the stand he operates from and at least 15 of them are severely affected, while the others had other sources of income.
He said he had registered to collect the government allowance, but had yet to get it. He is not sure how long would it take to recover.
JAFFNA
Subramaniyam Kandasamy, a 66-year-old-farmer from Kopay North, Jaffna, had not been able to sell his bananas because all regional markets are shut.
Making this situation worse is the closure of economic centres in Dambulla and other district markets.
Subramaniyam Kandasamy
There are no buyers even at Rs 10 for the famous Jaffna Kathali (sugar) banana which would be sold at Rs 50 per kilo.
Despite the curfew in Jaffna, he had tried to sell his produce or give it free to anyone from his house on Friday. Hours later, Kopay Police arrested him and confiscated the produce alleging he was doing business without a curfew permit. Another 50 people were arrested and released on police bail.
“I had no option other than putting my produce at the front gate because in a few days it would rot. I didn’t know that there is a need to get permits to sell my cultivation. The police took everything,” Kandasamy told the Sunday Times on Friday, after he returned from the police station.
Like Kandasamy, thousands of vegetable farmers said the virus situation is making their life miserable and they can’t support their families or even prepare for the next season.
“I could not recover the money I spent on a kerosene run water pump by selling my produce at low prices, now what?”
Along with the banana plantation, Kandasamy planted carrot as a seasonal crop in the nearby plot but there are no workers to help him.
“Even if I harvest it, how can I sell it? Who is going to buy?” he asked.
(Reports from: L B Senaratne, Amila Prabodha Gamage, Shelton Hettiaarchchi, Indika Handuwala and S Rubatheesan)