Sri Lankan minister holds press conference from halfway up a coconut tree

In a bid to draw people’s attention towards the dearth of coconuts in the country, a Sri Lankan lawmaker climbed a coconut tree to address the public. Arundika Fernando, who held a press conference mid-air, asserted that country was facing a shortage of 700 million coconuts due to high demand for local industries and domestic consumption. The coconut industry occupies an important position in the economy of Sri Lanka. In addition to being a staple food item, it is the biggest land user, the third-highest foreign exchange earner and an important source of government tax revenue.

'Boost the industry' 

Fernando, who is the state minister of coconut, said that he wished that the country utilized every available plot of land for the cultivation of coconuts and boost the industry to one which would “generate foreign exchange to the country", News First reported. Giving a solution to the problem of the rising price of coconut, he said that the government currently aimed to reduce prices of the fruit on accounts of its shortage in the nation. 

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Meanwhile, videos and photographs of him on the tree have surfaced. As per News First, it took a great effort for the State Minister's supporters to get him on the tree as well as out of the coconut tree climbing contraption. 

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Separately, a Sri Lankan lawmaker on September 8 was escorted out of prison to be sworn in as a member of  Parliament. Premalal Jayasekara, from the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) in August was convicted of murdering an opposition activist by opening fire at an election rally in 2015. Following which, he was sentenced to death for murder.

However, both his trial and conviction came after he was nominated for the poll conducted on August 5. It meant that he was still eligible to contest the election, which he later won. This has made Jayashankara the first convict in the country’s history to serve as a member of parliament.

(Image credits: SriLankaEuity/ Twitter)