The sudden midnight fuel price hikes by a gazette notification, imposed on the directions of the World Bank and IMF, set off a chain reaction yesterday with lorry operators announcing immediate increases in charges and food price hikes about to follow.
Political sources told The Sunday Times the international lending agencies had asked for firm assurances from the government on the removal or reduction of subsidies on fuel, wheat flour and fertilizer.
They said subsidies on education, health and other important areas would also be taken up for review at the Sri Lanka aid group meeting organised by the lending agencies.
Lorry transporters said yesterday they were increasing their charges by around Rs. 250 a trip in and around Colombo and food price increases were inevitable as traders would pass on the extra charge to the consumers.
"Some safety net would have to be set in place to protect the people when wheat and fertilizer subsidies are also reduced," one economist told The Sunday Times.
Another area which saw immediate hikes was the taxi sector. Cab company officials said they were raising rates by Rs. 2 a km while three wheeler operators were expected to make similar increases.
Transport Minister Srimani Athulathmudali said there would be no immediate increase in bus or rail fares as a result of yesterday's fuel price hikes. She pointed out, however, that the government had earlier decided on a staggered 25% increase in fares of which 15% had already been imposed with 10% to come.
The new fuel price from yesterday are as follows:
Old price New price Lanka 2 star petrol Rs. 40.00 Rs.50.00 Lanka 3 star petrol Rs. 42.50 Rs. 55.00 Lanka auto diesel Rs. 12.40 Rs. 13.20 Lanka super diesel Rs. 15.20 Rs. 18.50 Lanka industrial kerosene Rs. 11.80 Rs. 12.70 Lanka kerosene Rs. 9.50 Rs. 10.40 All furnace fuel up by 70 cents.
The Trade Ministry's Additional Secretary, G. N. Leelaratne, when asked what the government intended to do about a possible chain reaction said some study would have to be done before a counter strategy was adopted.
Ceylon Petroleum Corporation officials claimed the price hikes were necessary because of a rise in world prices and a constant depreciation of the Lankan rupee.
Security forces yesterday resumed their advance in the Paranthan area after over coming a massive counter attack by Tamil rebels in a week of fierce fighting which left more than 700 dead.
Troops backed by reinforcements on Friday overcame resistance on the western flank around the Uruthrapuram area where the army suffered the heaviest casualties in a single day during the current phase of Sathjaya.
A military statement said 75 troops, including five officers, had been killed in ThursdayÕs fighting and another 52 soldiers wounded in the battle had succumbed to their injuries on Friday. Other sources said 190 personnel including 10 officers had been killed. Up to Wednesday 71 soldiers had been killed as against 150 rebels killed during the same period.
In the latest round of fighting, on Friday 21 more soldiers and 35 rebels were killed while more than 100 LTTE cadres were reported injured.
Rebels also blasted the telecommunications tower in the Kilinochchi town on Friday afternoon, the military said. They said that blasting of the tower by the LTTE was seen as a move to impose hardships on the people.
A military statement said rebel transmissions had indicated they were summoning the maximum number of their cadres to Kilinochchi area to fight a last ditch battle.
The LTTE on Thursday morning attacked the column of troops with mortar and small arms fire and even deployed its suicide bombers to explode themselves near important army positions causing heavy casualties. Some of the LTTE cadres had been able to infiltrate the defences.
But troops retaliated with artillery and rocket propelled grenade (RPG) fire causing heavy casualties to the LTTE. The military statement said more than 450 rebels had been killed. Troops had recovered more than 140 bodies by Friday.
A military spokesman said rebels continued to fire mortars and RPGs at the advancing troops while the security forces were engaging rebel positions with artillery and aircraft.
Meanwhile, three civilians were gunned down by an unidentified group and their bodies dumped at Rasendrakulam in Vavuniya. Their bullet riddled bodies and a vehicle (51-5283) had been recovered. The persons arrived in Vavuniya from Trincomalee last Wednesday and on the following day an unknown group had abducted and murdered them, according to the military.
Another bullet riddled body of a youth was also found in Vavuniya town on Friday.
In a separate incident rebels shot dead a soldier on duty in the Rideepokuna village in the Polonnaruwa district on Friday.
The UNP has alerted its district organisations to watch out for attacks similar to the Negombo incident, UNP MP Tyronne Fernando said.
The warning was given at a joint meeting of the UNP Parliamentary Group and the Working Committee which was held last Tuesday.
Meanwhile, UNP MP Anura Bandaranaike along with the senior members of the UNP Foreign Affairs Group, met 35 members of the Diplomatic community last Wednesday.
Mr. Bandaranaike catalogued instances of unprovoked attacks on UNP supporters commencing with the incidents at Anamaduwa in April last year up to the recent assassinations of party supporters and elected representatives in Negombo this month and last month.
"This was part of a desperate strategy on the part of the Government to bolster its flagging popularity by intimidating and terrorising the democratic opposition", he stated. He also expressed outrage that the President rather than condemn these heinous crimes had justified and condoned these acts through inflammatory speeches.
The members of the diplomatic community who had participated actively in the discussions raised questions particularly about collaboration with the government in the context of the continuing violence against the UNP.
Mr. Bandaranaike assured the diplomats that the UNP as a responsible organisation which had led the country for many years would not be guided by parochial and partisan considerations when it came to addressing matters of national importance.
Mr. Bandaranaike also informed the diplomats that the UNP will be issuing a monthly publication entitled "Human Rights Alert" detailing instances of human rights violations.
The UNP will also take this matter to the International Human Rights bodies such as the IPU.
Heavy fighting in the Wanni region has triggered off yet another exodus of refugees, with civilians fleeing their temporary homes in and around the Kilinochchi district with the hope of finding refuge in India.
Thousands of civilians are arriving in Mannar, where boat services operate taking refugees to India. The new influx of refugees to Mannar has dealt a blow to Government's moves to house some 100,000 refugees in Vavuniya.
Mannar's Government Agent S.M. Croos told The Sunday Times, the government had halted all boat movements along the Mannar coast to a distance of two miles. Two Indian fishing trawlers which were about to transport some refugees were arrested by the Navy, he said..
While attempts to bring the UNP and the PA together on political issues have so far been unsuccessful, two prominent personalities from the very hearts of both camps have come together on an economic issue.
One of the directors of Plantation Investment and Management Company, which was in the news recently after its purchase of Hapugastenne Plantations, is Clifford Ratwatte, resident at Temple Trees, No. 574, Galle Road, Colombo 3, according to information filed with the Companies Registrar. With him on the Board is UNP Chairman Karu Jayasuriya, resident (not at the Siri Kotha) at Wijerama Mawatha. Observers say now at least the two major parties seem to have a basis on which to devise a national policy.
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