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Curfew and commotion: Ad-hocism adds chaos to growing fears
Frrom one queue to another: Long queues were seen outside every pharmacy in Colombo and suburbs. Pix by M. A. Pushpa Kumara
Scenes of unprecedented long queues at grocery shops, supermarkets, pharmacies, ATM machines and fuel stations were witnessed throughout out the country this week no sooner the curfew was lifted in the respective districts, as the government struggled to get the food, medicine and banking sector operations right.
Last Monday, well before the curfew imposed to control the spread of Covid-19 was lifted in the Colombo and Gampaha districts, people had started queuing up to purchases food items, medicines or withdraw cash from ATM machines, as they had just six hours to get back to their homes before the curfew was reimposed at noon. The government later announced a two-hour grace period.
Later in the day, supermarkets, grocery shops were told to serve all customers who had called over.
“We wouldn’t have rushed to the markets early in the day if we knew that we could purchase goods until late in the evening,” Sunil Gamage, a resident of Maligawatte said.
“The people would have spaced themselves out to get to the markets at different times if they only knew the curfew was to be reimposed at 2 pm,” he said.
At ATMs, several people stayed in the queues for more than 45 minutes to withdraw cash and then head to supermarkets to join longer queues.
“After I waited in the queue for more than an hour and by the time I got to the supermarket, most essential items were over,” Mallika Jayamali from Kerwalapitiya, Hendala said.
She said she noticed that ATM machines were also slow on that day with many people using the system at the same time.
Reports from several parts of the country said people had issues in withdrawing money from ATMs. One bank restricted withdrawals to a maximum of Rs 5,000.
Over the week with repeated government announcements that preparations were underway to organise a network to distribute food and medicines to the public, the scheme was hardly to be seen in operation even by Friday evening.
“I was expecting that I could obtain the services through the Sathosa, as widely publicised, but I got a message saying all goods were sold out,” Ashan Ranjith, a resident from Colombo said.
He said that one of his colleagues had tried to obtain the Sathosa service from the Vauxhall Street around 5.30 p.m. on Friday and received a message that the store was closed. “Since it is an emergency situation where people have been left without food supplies, we don’t expect a state institution such as Sathosa to close shop. They should be working round the clock to serve the people,” he said.
The Keells supermarket had the following message on their website on Friday;
“We are sorry, the Keels website is currently inactive until further notice. Due to the unprecedented demand at our stores and the website, we are unable to fulfill any further online orders. For orders that have been placed until now, we will get in touch with you shortly and inform the status of your order. Where we are unable to fulfill your order, a refund will be made. Thank you for your understanding.”
Many people in Colombo and suburbs banked on the vendors who arrived in small lorries or tuks for vegetables, coconuts, eggs and even dry rations.
Some of the smaller groceries issued limited stocks to area residents despite the curfew, but with the strict implementation of the curfew from Friday evening, whatever the little window the people had was closed.
During the week the Police permitted people carrying a valid prescription to go to a pharmacy despite the curfew. However, Police on Friday ordered all supermarkets and pharmacies to close down. It said, however, medicines will be supplied only through the state run Osu Salas.
“We have made arrangements to distribute medicines through postmen. Once the order is placed by phone to the Osusala the medicines will be delivered to the house in terms of a plan worked out by the government,” Minister Bandula Gunawardena told the Sunday Times.
A State Pharmaceutical Corporation senior official said they hoped to make use of some 800 private pharmacies as well for the distribution system.
He said that 5,000 Mt of medicines have arrived this week and they had sufficient stock. But the people’s biggest worry is to get the medicine on time.
A private pharmacist in Maradana said that there could be a shortage of certain medicines in the coming weeks.
“One of the issues we may face in the coming weeks is that we may not get the same quantities of medicines from countries like India and Pakistan,” a pharmacist in Maradana said, adding that some suppliers had informed him that stocks were not available.
Thousands of poor people get their medicine from state hospital clinics. With the curfew on, they are unable to visit the clinics and get medicine. Some of them could not find transport to reach the hospital or visit a doctor.
Meanwhile, some of the traders arbitrarily increased the prices of vegetables, despite the farmers selling stocks at low prices due to the lack of demand.
Our Puttalam correspondent Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe found that in Kalpitiya, farmers were selling most vegetables including capsicum at less than Rs 80 per kilogram (see separate story).
The price hike led to arguments on Thursday at Colombo’s Manning Market where most small-scale wholesale traders purchase their stocks from large wholesale traders bringing down supplies from the outstations including Dambulla. The buyers complained that the wholesale traders were selling a kilo of vegetables at exorbitant prices. Some vegetables were sold at Rs 300 and above.
The crisis prompted Consumer Affairs Authority Chairman Shantha Dissanayake, a retired army officer, to personally visit the market and severely reprimand the traders not to make obscene profits at times of crisis.
As a result, the traders were ordered to keep a maximum profit of Rs 40 per kilogram. Mr Dissanayake himself was present again on Friday to make sure that the traders followed his directive.
A similar situation was experienced on Friday at the Dambulla Economic Centre where wholesale prices were much lower than the previous days. Army Commander Shavendra Silva on Friday visited the Economic centre to inspect the vegetable distribution.
However, in some outstation areas, the situation was not the same, with traders selling even price controlled items such as dhal and canned fish at higher prices.
Amid fears that the curfew would be continued, particularly in districts such as Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara and Jaffna, these are some of the key issues of public concern. Their fears have not been allayed or adequately addressed by the mechanisms the government says it has set in motion.
 All that standing was a waste: Many people said they saw empty shelves inside the supermarkets ater a long wait in the queue Bare shelves greet desperate people rushing for groceries By Nadia Fazlulhaq Standing in long queues, under the hot sun, drenched in sweat, uncomfortable face masks, empty stomachs, dizzy spells, achy feet became a part of the harrowing experience that hundreds of thousands went through on Tuesday, when the police curfew that continued through the weekend was lifted for six hours. Tuesday’s public exposure and panic buying led to the appointing of a Presidential Task Force to combat the coronavirus in Sri Lanka with powers to monitor continuous food supply and declaring delivery of food as an essential service. While supermarkets maintained the recommended one metre distance between people at the entrances, inside them people witnessed episodes of supermarket sweep, a rush to grab whatever was on the shelves. Queues started forming at 6:00 a.m. with 500-600 people early in the morning. The threat of spreading a deadly virus was the last thing in mind especially in public markets of all places, as heated arguments arose amid the desperation for daily needs in densely populated Colombo and Gampaha districts. “I was standing from 7:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. in a queue of a supermarket in Colombo, at the end I was barely able to stand. All I wanted was to grab some soft drinks and go. Unfortunately, all that standing was a waste as there were no essential dry rations, flour, dhal, canned fish and sugar but only cornflakes, instant noodles and non-essential food. I had to then go in search of important dry rations,’’ said Sahan Perera, from Colombo. His sense of hopelessness was echoed by many who had similar experiences in supermarkets. Some complained of a shortage of vegetables and other essentials like potatoes, onions and garlic in supermarkets. Tuesday’s mad rush was a disappointment for many with fish, both fresh and dried, vegetables and meat in short supply. While people were rushing as the curfew was to be re-imposed at noon (it was later extended to 2:00p.m.), shops remained closed, with limited supplies and stocks arriving after 10:00 a.m. Many people were in queues at automatic teller machines (ATMs). Despite the curfew being re-imposed, people were seen in queues till 4:00 p.m. Shyamalie Premaratne, had been standing in a queue from 6:00 a.m. and almost fainted due to hunger and after enduring the sun for long. “I’m a 62 year old diabetic patient. I had no way of asking people to buy for me. I felt dizzy in the queue but stayed till I got the needed food items,’’ she said while holding a 5kg rice bag, and two heavy bags containing milk powder, tea leaves, dhal, and other essential goods as she left the local grocery store at 1:30 p.m. Despite the elderly being vulnerable during virus pandemic, many were seen standing in queues, and some were seen even in Manning and other public markets in search of vegetables. | |