Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

Reuters

Business

By Kim Kyung-Hoon and Santhush Fernando

Last handful of fish: Crisis pushes more Sri Lankans into poverty

Kim KyungHoon Sri Lanka Fish Colombo Oshada Fernando

Gamage Rupawathi (R), 60, her husband W. A. Susantha (C), 45, and their son, Krishan Darshana (L), 25, pose at their home, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 2, 2022. "When I had a fruit business I was earning a significant income," Rupawathi said. "But with the drawn-out lockdowns during the pandemic and now this economic crisis I don't have money to restart my fruit stall." REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

In her outstretched palms, 49-year-old Nilanthi Gunasekera holds her family’s last remaining handful of dried fish – a reminder of Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in decades.

She is just one of the millions of Sri Lankans battling a calamitous decline in living standards, as they find themselves forced to skip meals, ration out medicines and turn to firewood in place of cooking gas.

Nilanthi Gunasekera, 49, poses with a handful of dried fish, the only protein her family will have until next week, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 8, 2022. "Before the economic crisis, we ate well and we served meat or fish to our kids at least three or four times a week. Now fish is out of the reach of our family and so is meat," said Gunasekera REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

"Now fish is out of the reach of our family, and so is meat," Gunasekera said, grasping the shards of fish. "For two weeks we couldn’t afford any meat or fish. This is our last protein."

Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, rising oil prices and economic mismanagement under previous governments, the island nation is in the throes of its starkest crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

Rampant inflation, snaking fuel queues and shortages of essentials such as food and medicine have driven many Sri Lankans into poverty, while months of street protests ousted the previous president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in July.

Retired soldier Saman Priyantha, 51, poses with his prosthetic leg, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 7, 2022. "I joined the Sri Lanka Army in 1989, and in 1992 I lost my leg to a land mine," he said. "I am receiving a pension of Rs 40,000 to 45,000, but that is not enough to sustain my family of five." REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

More than a quarter of the population of 22 million is now struggling to secure adequate, nutritious food, the United Nations says.

"We really can’t afford to buy a gas cylinder or a cooker," Gunasekera said, after thieves broke into her home and stole the family’s cooker and gas cylinder a few months ago. "So now we are forced to cook with firewood."

As desperation grows, the government of President Ranil Wickremesinghe is seeking a multi-billion-dollar bailout in talks with the International Monetary Fund and is tapping major allies, from India and Japan to the United States.

Velu C. M. Sivakanthi, 47, shows the only rice her family currently has at her home at Wanathamulla, Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 2, 2022. "We live here with two daughters, a son and a grandchild. My husband left me after I got injured in a cooking gas explosion. Since I don't have a job I have no other option but to work in a bungalow where I get Rs 1,500 a day, if I have work. But that is not at all enough to manage our family of four. We have rice only for two days." said Sivakanthi. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

But major financial assistance is still months away, making tough austerity measures likely, so that few Sri Lankans will see conditions improve soon.

"Now I bathe at a public well more often in order to save money," said auto rickshaw driver Sivaraja Sanjeewan, 31, adding that rising costs of food made it very tough for him to pay water and electricity bills.

SHORTAGES PERSIST

S. Gayathri, 29, displays the only food her family currently has while she waits for her brother to bring home some rice, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 2, 2022. "We used to have all three meals, but now we skip breakfast," said Gayathri. "After this we won't have any vegetables left." REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

As depleted reserves have dried up supplies of petrol, diesel and gas, lengthy fuel queues, sometimes persisting for days, have become a daily feature this year.

The shortages have brought a boom in demand for firewood.

Krishan Darshana said he had joined his father in breaking up logs to sell as kindling after getting laid off from a job in construction during the crisis.

Sivaraja Sanjeewan, 31, takes a bath at a public well at Wanathamulla, Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 2, 2022. "We have a tap water connection but it's very difficult to pay water and electricity bills in addition to the rising costs of food. So now I bathe in a public well more often in order to save money," said the auto rickshaw driver. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

"It’s very hard work," said the 25-year-old, who now makes do with a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits as the day's only meal. "But what else can I do when there are no jobs for us?"

Times are also tough for those with health problems.

"Government hospitals have run out of medicine so they ask us to buy from pharmacies - but we don’t have any money," said Krishan’s mother, 60-year-old Gamage Rupawathi.

Oshada Fernando, 11, poses with his kite which his uncle made for him, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 7, 2022. "With the economic crisis we haven't bought any toys for our son," said his mother, 42-year-old Anusha Priyadarshini. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

She suffers from asthma, cholesterol and arthritis, but now finds she has just three days of drugs left.

"After this is over, what do I do?" she asked tearfully, gesturing to an inhaler she uses twice a day to help her breathe.

CHILDREN SUFFER

Priyani Dhammika, 53, makes betel stacks with areca nut and tobacco leaves popularly used by Sri Lankans to chew on, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 2, 2022. "Business is very difficult now," she said. "Earlier, a sheath of betel was around Rs 50 but that has skyrocketed to around Rs 200, sometimes even to around Rs 350 or 400. The price of an areca nut which was around Rs 5 has tripled to around Rs 15." REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

With education already disrupted by the pandemic, children were among the worst hit by the economic crisis that followed, as parents scrambled for supplies and authorities worried about growing risks of malnutrition.

"Our main concern is the education of our children," said Gunasekera. "But we are unable to buy even exercise books."

Her husband has to beg his employers for the money to buy them, she added.

Manel Peiris, 68, displays her heart medication, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 2, 2022. "I am a heart patient and have to take medicine every day," she said. "Hospitals used to issue medicine for three months. But with the onset of the economic crisis, hospitals don't have medicine and so we are asked to buy from pharmacies. But one month's cost is around Rs 3,400 which I can't afford, so I buy only for one week at a time. Sometimes my husband has to borrow or get an advance from his workplace." REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Some parents find it hard to scrape together the fares for children's trips to school, while others cannot afford to buy them even simple treats, such as ice-cream or sweets.

Oshada Fernando played with a home-made kite his uncle fashioned from bamboo scraps and shopping bags. His parents were unable to afford a gift for his birthday last month.

"I was wishing for a racing car," said the 11-year-old. "I hope at least for my next birthday I get this as a present."