Sri Lanka closes schools, govt offices & transport for 2 weeks amid severe fuel crisis

Amid the mounting economic crisis, including the inability to pay for fuel imports, Sri Lanka on Friday announced a two-week suspension of schools, public offices, and transport. Through a press release dated Saturday, the Sri Lankan Public Administration Ministry urged all government employees to work from home starting Monday in the wake of an acute fuel shortage to run public vehicles. This comes after Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's government earlier declared Friday (June 17) a holiday in an attempt to conserve the last remaining fuel reserve in the country for emergency use.

"Due to scarce public transport as well as the inability to arrange private vehicles, it is decided to drastically curtail the number of employees reporting to work," the Sri Lankan Public Administration Ministry said in its statement.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Education Ministry on Thursday informed that the schools will be shut down for a period of two weeks owing to prolonged power cuts. However, they added that if possible, the teachers may conduct online classes. The announcement comes as the island nation is facing nearly 12 to 13 hours long blackouts for months now amid a spiralling economic meltdown, leading to violent clashes earlier last month.

Economic situation in Sri Lanka

The developments come as Sri Lanka is struggling to meet the basic needs of its citizens amidst the severe food and fuel shortages in the country. The country is confronting a worst-in-a-decade meltdown resulting from compounded issues like ill-timed tax cuts, mismanaged funds, and a complete shutdown of tourism due to the pandemic. Colombo is currently in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure a bailout after having defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt in April.

Around 22 million people in the island nation are reeling under a crippling shortage of food, fuel, and energy albeit critical health care. According to the United Nations, at least 4 out of five people in Sri Lanka are skipping meals as they cannot afford to purchase food. In addition, at least a million are on the edge of a humanitarian crisis. The World Food Programme (WPF) said that it will require nearly $60 million to provide food and relief supplies to people between June to December.

US assures support to Colombo

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Wickremesinghe discussed the economic challenges with US State Secretary Antony Blinken. Responding to Wickremesinghe's demand, the US secretary agreed to support the country and assured him of promoting investment in Sri Lanka after the conclusion of the IMF talks. "It was a pleasure speaking to Secretary of State @SecBlinken today. I briefed him on the current economic situation and requested for our countries to work closer. He assured his support to further promote US investments in Sri Lanka upon the completion of IMF negotiations," the island nation's PM wrote on Twitter.

(Image: AP)