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The Parliamentary Chamber on Friday morning echoed with slogans denouncing the Government’s handling of the fertiliser crisis, as Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) members held a protest demanding that measures be taken to resolve the prevailing fertiliser crisis.

Many SJB MPs carried placards with slogans attacking the Government over the self-inflicted crisis. Earlier taking up the fertiliser crisis, Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella raised issue under Standing Orders, pointing out that in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s manifesto “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour,” it had clearly been stated that his plan was to transition from chemical to fully organic agriculture in 10 years. “If they are going to do it now within one year, it goes against their own mandate,” Mr Kiriella said.

Opposition Parliamentarians led by the SJB staging their protest inside the chambers, demanding that the farmers be supplied their fertiliser to start their cultivation for the Maha season

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, however, refused to allow Mr Kirella to proceed further, saying the matter could be taken up at a separate debate. SJB MPs had come prepared for the protest in the Chamber and they then proceeded to take out their placards to stage their protest whilst shouting slogans against the Government’s handling of the issue. The Chambers echoed with cries of Diyavu, Diyavu, Pohora Diyawu (Give fertiliser). Even Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs Shanakiyan Rasamanickam and M.A. Sumanthiran were seen holding up placards handed out by the SJB.

The SJB MPs’ protest came a day after the SJB had moved an adjournment debate on the fertiliser issue. Opening the debate on Thursday, SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara accused the Government of endangering the country’s food security by arbitrarily and arrogantly deciding to ban chemical fertiliser overnight and to fully transition to organic fertiliser. “This decision has placed farmers who grow many crops in great difficulty. The Government should direct more attention towards the plight of farmers who are suffering as a result of this decision,” the Monaragala District MP noted.

He said the Government’s ill-conceived policy is taking the country towards a famine. “The situation is so bad that farmers are wondering whether they should even continue farming or give it up altogether.” He stressed that the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Government would go down in history as the Government that ruined agriculture in the country.

Kurunegala District SJB Parliamentarian Ashoka Abeysinghe pointed out that the Agriculture Ministry’s own Secretary had now publicly admitted the ban on chemical fertiliser was wrong and that the Government higher-ups had been ill-advised on the matter. “The Ministry Secretary has also criticised the gazette banning chemical fertiliser, but perhaps, in an attempt to keep his job, he has told the media that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Agriculture Minister and the Government were not responsible for the fiasco and that it was the fault of the officials. Does that mean that Government policy is now decided by officials?” he queried.

The Government’s defence was that the decision to ban chemical fertiliser was taken with the aim of reducing kidney disease among farmers. Lands Minister S.M. Chandrasena, who represents the rice bowl district of Anuradhapura, said studies had linked the kidney disease to the excessive use of chemical fertiliser and pesticides.

He noted that following these studies there had been many calls to limit the use of agrochemicals in cultivation. “If we don’t do this, there will be even more kidney disease patients, cancer patients and even those with diseases we haven’t been able to identify. We know this since we have been to many funerals of those who had succumbed this way,” he said.

Joining the debate, National People’s Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the decision to ban chemical fertiliser was not something that can be taken by force of voice or muscle. He pointed out that the Government’s decision was regarding the main source of livelihood for tens of thousands in different parts of the country. “When taking such a decision, the Government should have been far more considerate towards those who will be affected.”

Given that the “Maha” cultivation season had now arrived, farmers should be at work in their fields, yet the Government was still trying to figure out how to provide fertiliser to farmers and resolve a crisis of its own making, Mr Dissanayake asserted. “This shows that this decision was not based on any scientific basis,” he stressed.

Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage maintained that the decision to ban chemical fertiliser was taken with good intentions to protect the health of farmers. “The main problem this legislature has is that those in power formulate policies to win votes. They don’t think about the betterment of the country or its people,” he hit back.

The minister, however, acknowledged that the Government had failed to market its decision on chemical fertiliser to the people properly. He blamed this on the reluctance on the part of some SLPP’s coalition partners and certain MPs to stand behind the policy.

He said there was no point in blaming farmers over the matter since certain elements, including those in the Opposition and some scientists “in the pay of chemical fertiliser companies,” had inserted groundless fears into their heads regarding the organic fertiliser the Government was importing for the farmers. He argued that research had validated the organic fertiliser the Government was importing.

“It’s not that we can’t do this. It’s just that, due to failures in our messaging mechanism, farmers have become agitated about the matter,” Mr Aluthgamage maintained.

Parliament will reconvene at 10.00am on November 8.