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‘Free market Uncle’s’ policy framework egged
ECONOMYNEXT –President’s Ranil Wickremesinghe’s market economy has been shattered by price controls on eggs, which has led to empty shelves and progressive destruction of the layer chicken farms, opposition legislator Rohini Kumari Wijerathna said.
“The trade ministry has issued a gazette with a price control on eggs at 43 rupees,” Wijerathna told parliament.
“Now there are no eggs in shops. If you sell above 50 rupee they are caught. The Department of Animal Production says the production cost of eggs is 49 rupees.
“So the poultry industry is being destroyed. If this continues by next March the industry will be badly hit.”
Poultry farmers say they are already having problems with feed which is reducing the number of eggs hens are laying. With chicken meat prices around 1,400 rupees, farmers are killing layers for meat and are not keen on starting a new batch, industry officials have warned.
The Consumer Affairs Authority has created shortages and blackmarkets in several consumer products during the Coronavirus and currency crises as well as earlier and is a threat to the economy and small businesses, according to critics.
“People says Ranil Wickremesinghe is the Uncle of the Free Market (Nidahas aarthikaye baappa). The open economy is the policy of the country, but to put price controls on eggs there is a Trade Minister.
“Ranil Wickremesinghe and price controls do not mix. So there is no coherence.
“The economic policy articulated by the President cannot be comprehended by the Trade Ministry or the Agriculture Ministry.
“The are not at level where they can understand what the President is saying. I am asking according to what doctrine are these price controls being imposed?
“I have no dispute about the post 1977 open economy, but his budget policies have to implemented by the same people who took the country in the reverse direction.
Classical economists have pointed out that the control of business, and the loss of economic freedoms are part of an authoritarian system of government that seeks to control citizens at every turn, usually with disastrous consequences.
“It is true that the officeholders are no longer the servants of the citizenry but irresponsible and arbitrary masters and tyrants,” explained economist and philosopher Ludwig von Mises.
“But this is not the fault of bureaucracy. It is the outcome of the new system of government which restricts the individual’s freedom to manage his own affairs and assigns more and more tasks to the government.
“The culprit is not the bureaucrat but the political system. And the sovereign people is still free to discard this system.
“It is further true that bureaucracy is imbued with an implacable hatred of private business and free enterprise. But the supporters of the system consider precisely this the most laudable feature of their attitude.
“Far from being ashamed of their anti-business policies, they are proud of them. They aim at full control of business by the government and see in every businessman who wants to evade this control a public enemy.”
In a swift search and rescue (SAR) operation, the Sri Lanka Navy on 22 Jun 2026 rendered assistance to a one-day fishing trawler that had failed to return to its intended destination.
Reportedly, the fishing trawler and its 02 crew members ran into trouble due to adverse weather conditions off the north coast of the island. The rescue mission was launched
immediately following an alert from the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources regarding the overdue trawler.
Responding to the distress call, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Colombo, coordinated the deployment of naval craft for the SAR operation.
During the operation, naval personnel located the distressed trawler and its 02 fishermen in the seas off the Analaitivu Island and they were brought to safety.
Maintaining a round-the-clock vigil, the Sri Lanka Navy, through the coordination of MRCC Colombo, remains constantly prepared to deploy assets and extend vital lifesaving assistance to the naval and fishing communities facing perils within the Sri
Lankan Search and Rescue Region.
The NPP government has not taken a final decision regarding filling of the vacancies in the judiciary.
A group of Opposition MPs, led by SJB leader Sajith Premadasa, on 12 June, requested Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickremeratne to take up the issue of judicial vacancies with President Dissanayake. Opposition sources said that there were four vacancies, each in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, and the inordinate delay had adversely affected the judiciary.
Government sources indicated that there was no change in the status quo as regards filling of vacancies. Referring to the government proposal to extend the retirement age of judges, authoritative sources said that no final decision had been taken yet.
SJB lawmaker Dayasiri Jayasekera told The Island that they would raise the issue in Parliament this week.
He said that the deliberate delay in making appointments to superior courts and the move to extend the retirement age couldn’t be taken separately.
The MP noted that the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, the Lawyers’ Collective, the Colombo High Court Lawyers’ Association, Colombo Magistrate’s Court Lawyers’ Association and the Bar Association of Badulla had opposed the government move.
There hadn’t been any public statements in support of the government move, MP Jayasekera said, urging the government to end uncertainty in the judiciary.
by Shamindra Ferdinando
SJB leader Sajith Premadasa has invited the UNP and other political parties to join his party. Premadasa, who is also the leader of the Opposition, has emphasised that the UNP and the SJB could reach a consensus on policies but his party wouldn’t, under any circumstances, accept whatever formula to share positions. Premadasa said so, speaking to the media over the weekend, after meeting the Mahanayaka Thera of the Malwatta Chapter of the Siyam Nikaya Most Venerable Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera.
A statement issued by the Opposition Leader’s Office quoted MP Premadasa as having extended an invitation to all political parties to give up extremist policies and join the SJB.
The SJB leader alleged that the NPP government feared facing elections and that was the reason for the inordinate delay in holding Provincial Council polls. PC polls were last held in 2012, 2013 and 2014, on a staggered basis. Premadasa said that if PC polls were held his party would definitely win the majority of PCs.Premadasa also urged the government to reduce electricity tariffs and fuel prices.
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