Sri Lanka crisis: Cooking gas scarcity worsens, army called to control angry crowd
Colombo (Sri Lanka), May 14: Colombo police on Saturday called army personnel to disburse the crowd over the demand for cooking gas at a Slave Island Police Station.
"We are here since morning and we are not getting gas and I think these people are selling gas to hotels and rich people," a woman protestor said.
People including women, elderly people and children chanted "Diyaw Diyaw gas diyaw," demanding gas for their daily necessities.
"We have children in our house, we are not able to cook food for them, we are struggling for gas for a month," another woman protestor said.
Notably, Ranil Wickremesinghe after assuming the post of Prime Minister informed the media that his first challenge is to uplift the country's economy.
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"I want to settle this problem to ensure the supply of petrol, diesel and electricity to the people," said Wickremesinghe.
After his oath-taking ceremony, Wickremesinghe said that "we need to create a country with a future for the youth, where people can eat three meals a day again and free of queues soon."
Sri Lanka is currently facing its worst economic crisis since independence, with food and fuel shortages, increasing prices, and widespread power outages affecting many citizens.
Meanwhile, the country continues to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to save its fragile economy.
With President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the major figure whose removal is demanded by the protestors, remaining in power, it would be interesting to see how Wickremesinghe appeases the anti-government protestors in the near term.
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-PTC News
