Scarcity of fuel, Sri Lanka must mobilize the army to protect the gas station

According to AFP news agency, the South Asian island nation is facing its worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948, with rotating power cuts and shortages of essential items such as food. cooking gas.

Officials said on March 22 that the army was deployed after people gathered to protest on a busy street in Colombo, causing traffic jams for hours because they could not buy kerosene. .

“Anger surged as the line got longer and longer. The decision to mobilize the army to support the police was made last night. This move is to prevent the risk of instability,” a senior defense official said.

In a video posted on March 21, angry protesters for not being able to buy kerosene blocked a passenger bus.

Earlier, a scuffle broke out between two people waiting to refuel, leaving one person dead. Three other elderly people also died after hours in line to buy fuel. Police said many people lined up overnight to buy petrol.

Military officials announced that troops will be sent to gas stations owned by the state oil company Ceylon. This group is in charge of two-thirds of the fuel retail chain in the country of 22 million people.

Sri Lanka is short of dollars to pay for increasingly expensive fuel imports. In February, the country’s foreign currency reserves fell to $2.31 billion.

Also in February, Sri Lanka’s inflation reached 15.1% – one of the highest rates in Asia. Food inflation spiked to 25.7%. Poverty affects almost every area of ​​everyday life. Last week, the country’s authorities also postponed semester tests for millions of students because of a shortage of paper and ink.

In early March, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka floated the rupee causing the currency to plummet more than 30% and trade at around 275 rupees/USD.