Rice is life

So goes the marketing slogan of a reputed company which recently entered the rice processing business. Although an advertising catchphrase, the message is indeed true.

In this backdrop, the Government’s decision to declare rice as an essential commodity no doubt would be welcomed by the larger masses who are reeling under the high cost of living.

A gazette notification giving effect to the decision has been issued wherein it is hoped to arrest the artificial shortage created by errant traders.

The Government should take the fight to the traders and ensure the people are not held to ransom by the notorious Pettah cartels who have become a law onto themselves.

The Government’s decision to act tough in this regard is most welcome considering that rice is still the staple food among the majority of the populace not to mention rice products which are the mainstay a majority of homes.

Rice has always been a sensitive topic with the masses and over the years had been closely intertwined with electoral politics of the country. The electoral fortunes of Governments largely depended on this one commodity.

One recalls the hartal of 1953 when the withdrawal of the rice ration by the Dudley Senanayake Government resulted in a hartal. The country went jubilant when in 1965 the same Dudley Senanayake Government granted one measure of rice free to the people.

The Sirimavo Bandaranaike Government tried to go one better and promised two measures free. It rode to power in a landslide in 1970.

Therefore, rice has been a sensitive issue in the political landscape of this country from time immemorial and has a tendency to explode into a major issue with negative political repercussions.

It is therefore a timely move by the Government to clamp down on rogue traders who may also be working to a sinister agenda to bring the Government into difficulty. Whether rice still commands the same demand in the post free market era is of course debatable with a whole new generation now brought up on diet of ‘instant’ food.

Still for the larger masses rice still continues to be the mainstay and any move to put this beyond the reach of the ordinary masses is bound to be met with resistance. The current impasse has been brought about by the traders withholding stocks to the open market to make a killing during the peak demand period.

Therefore, it is incumbent on the authorities to provide adequate stocks to cater to the consumer demand and defeat designs of blackmarketeers.

Action against bird flu

Our health authorities have acted fast in banning poultry imports from India in the wake of a massive bird flu epidemic sweeping several States in the Sub-Continent.

The authorities should not stop at that but take further steps to ensure that proper quarantine measures are in place at all entry/exit points in the country to doubly guarantee that avian influenza does not enter our shores. Of course, this will not be an easy task given the movements of migratory birds.

When the epidemic first reared its head in Asian countries such as Thailand some time ago Sri Lanka was all at sea on how to deal with the threat.

This may perhaps be due to the unknown factor of the disease which made us ill equipped to deal with the emergency.

Thankfully, we are now well geared to face up to the challenge and safety measures are already in place. What is equally important is the need to educate the people to avoid panic since there is a tendency to act irrationally when facing huge challenges like this.

According to reports the Indian authorities plan to cull some two million birds although no human cases of avian flu has been reported. This may not represent a colossal figure in a vast country like India but would have severe repercussions in a country like ours, which is already facing a dwindling bird population.

It appears that disease and epidemics too had become part and parcel of globalisation as seen with hitherto unheard of afflictions spreading to all corners of the world.

It will therefore be only appropriate that Sri Lanka gears itself to face the new threat of disease that could have devastating consequences on the country.

A national plan has to be drawn up to identify and deal with such epidemics that may visit our shores without warning. A contingency plan is also called for to identify and deal with the sudden appearance of disease and pestilences from outside our shores.