Manna from the skies and the drop of water to a man dying of thirst is for most now a jab in the upper arm which will hopefully keep at bay the dreaded omnipotent, omnipresent Covid 19 virus. It seems to be getting more virulent especially in poorer countries. But countries with massive daily numbers of those ill with C19 and large numbers dead, are fast returning to near normal e.g. USA. A young man who hibernated for the last fourteen months is away on holiday in the Big Apple – a separate State from his. And take it from Cassandra whose age, experience and potent gut feeling qualify her to judge situations, the improvement is due to President Biden’s leadership against that of Trump. Kudos go to Biden mostly for his selection of experts in relevant fields heading various government departments; selected solely on merit and matching the need; not considering relatives, sycophants, ethnic origin of the selected Americans. And he is totally receptive to expert advice. Judge his S
Two consecutive editorials, published in
The Island on the 7 and 8 May, lambasted the despicable intervention of the Minister of Transport, Gamini Lokuge, for being instrumental in lifting the lockdown, in Piliyandala, against the advice of the health authorities.
A team of health officials, led by the MOH Piliyandala, backed by PHIs, and the DGHS, based on the recommendations of his officers, decided to lock down the Piliyandala town, as it had taken a turn for the worse, due to the rapid spread of the epidemic.
Minister Lokuge is reported to have admitted, at an interview with
Hiru News, that he influenced the lifting of the lockdown in Piliyandala, and
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The global economic crisis has affected all countries, but small economies like Sri Lanka are the worst hit. A recent nutritional study in Sri Lanka shows that the level of malnutrition has gone up to 18%, while the poverty level has reached 60%.
While the rural and plantation sectors are worst affected, the urban sector has also been hit. On International Women’s Day, it was sad to see continuing discrimination and the sad plight of women in our country, a cause for concern.
Besides the many women who bear the burden of doing a job while running the home and caring for the family, the war widows and elderly are suffering in silence with no support from society. The economic downturn has been aggravated by the Covid 19 pandemic. The media makes little or no mention of this grave situation, and the Government carries on as usual, with more attention to highways and high life, and only little attention to the problems of hunger and poverty.
With less freedom to get about, my mind began to meander into forbidden mental zones. I was gently reminded of a racy Sinhala song we sang in the village school. It began thus “apeyma jaathiya, Sinhala jaathiya…” (our nation is the Sinhala nation…). Failing memory refused to sing me along to the next line. An old friend, Elmo de Silva, a regular contributor to The Sunday Island, supplied the words of the next line” “nathivena pata pene.” (there are signs of annihilation). But then I knew there were a few more lines. These lines were supplied by a lady, Mrs Kamala Wijewardana, nee Gunawardena, a sister of three Peradeniya University distinguished academics, two of them being Professors of Electrical Engineering and Geography, respectively. The additional lines are “kandath nae, bondath nae, car eka nathuwama yandathe nae” (nothing to eat, nothing to drink, etc).