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The major worry for most people, apart from the Covid pandemic, is food

Compelled to remain indoors due to the prolonged curfew, the main woe for most Sri Lankans has become their food. Some have managed to stock them whilst others lapped up whatever remained at supermarkets.

The head of the 40-member Presidential Task Force, Special Envoy Basil Rajapaksa assigned Grama Niladharis to recommend curfew passes to grocery shop owners and food suppliers to deliver stocks to the doorstep. The system is working but appears inadequate to cover a wider section, particularly those in the Western Province.

One supermarket boasted online that it was providing vegetable packs at one thousand rupees each. One customer ordered and found much to his chagrin that it contained select vegetables which weighed 200 grammes. At market prices, the total would have been Rs 700. Here was a Rs 300 profit for the supermarket. That is not all. In addition, it charged a further Rs 150 for transport.

A restaurant specialising in Chinese cuisine had a different strategy. Callers on the telephone were told that the minimum order should be over Rs 2,500. The transport cost would be based on the amount for the order. Their crookedness was displayed in SMS messages they sent out to would-be customers. It said that there would be a discount of 15% and delivery free.

A Kollupitiya customer who ordered different dishes for over Rs 2,750 was told delivery would take three or four hours. That would be 4 or 5 pm when the order was for lunch. He was shocked to see his neighbour receiving his order which was worth Rs 15,500. Orders with lower amounts were being made to believe the orders would be delayed but they were in fact practising deception. They have built a veritable wall around customers who are cost conscious during these difficult times.

In remote areas, the food distribution also has been equally bad. In one of the villages in Ampara, a Buddhist monk spoke about his attempts to get food. “I can think of only one solution. That is for us all to get on to the main road during curfew hours and get arrested. At least while in custody they will feed us,” he told a group of villagers.

Desperate for a drink? Grin and bear it

While the curfew has been temporarily lifted for a few hours from time to time, the entire country has now remained under lockdown for more than two weeks. While most shops have been allowed to open during the small window that the curfew is lifted, wine stores aren’t among them. All bars, restaurants, supermarkets and any other place where liquor can be obtained also remain closed.

In fact, the drinking public has not had any access to liquor, at least legally, since the evening of March 20.

As the curfew drags on, however, more and more incidents are being reported of people trying to gain access to liquor through all sorts of creative means, all of which are illegal and which can, and have, landed some in serious trouble with the law.

On Tuesday (31), Police and the Excise Department conducted raids in Dambulla town on information that some licensed wine stores were surreptitiously selling liquor to traders, farmers and others who were coming into the Dambulla Economic Centre, which has remained open during the curfew. Though no arrests were made, police posted warning signs on wine stores that they stood to lose their liquor licenses if found illegally selling liquor.

Meanwhile, some who were desperate for booze took extreme measures. Thieves broke into a licensed wine stores at Dikoya town in Hatton in the early hours of Friday (3) and made off with Rs 500,000 worth of local and foreign liquor. Police have arrested three suspects over the incident.

Following a tip-off, police in Seeduwa stopped a vehicle with an “Essential Services” label posted on its front. The vehicle was supposed to be transporting chicken. It was, but inside the freezer containing the meat, police also found several bottles of foreign liquor and cartons of foreign cigarettes. The three suspects who were arrested over the incident revealed that they were taking the contraband to sell at a housing scheme nearby.

Demand for illicit liquor (moonshine) has gone up significantly too. Police have conducted as many as 20 raids, mainly centred on the Western Province since the start of the curfew targeting those manufacturing and selling moonshine. A raid conducted at Ponnalai in Jaffna yesterday resulted in the detection of a large number of barrels containing Goda.

Covid-journalism: Advice from Health Service DG

Health Services Director General Dr Anil Jasinghe, who is running the government’s campaign against Covid-19 has found the time to give the Sri Lankan media some lessons on reporting.

In a note circulated to the media through the Director of Government Information, he has advised that they should stick to the truth when reporting after verifying facts. He has said that the names of victims affected by the Covid-19 should not be mentioned.

However, his own service did not follow the standard practice when it announced the death of the first victim. Without saying that a victim had died, an official news release went on to give the medical history of the victim. It said he was a patient with a kidney transplant and was suffering from diabetes. That seemed to suggest that the patient could have died due to those two ailments.

Whilst urging that technical details should be used when reporting, he said not to offer personal opinions. If one watches satellite television these days, they are educating their viewers every hour by obtaining the personal views of different experts and those familiar with the pandemic. He also wants reporting carried out without inciting hatred among people.

Then comes Dr Jasinghe’s request that in reporting the news, it should be in a way to foster positive hope on future and mutual cooperation instead of creating tension and hopelessness in the public mind. He also does not want footage aired or photographs published of people at quarantine camps without the prior permission of those inside.

In recent weeks, the armed forces personnel, who are doing a commendable job in accommodating and caring for suspected Covid-19 cases, have been releasing photographs. They show the quarantine centres and those leaving the premises after the quarantine process. This should be quite rightly so. They want to tell Sri Lankans of the good work they are doing.