By Saman Indrajith

Public Security Minister Rear Admiral (Retd) Sarath Weerasekera told Parliament on Monday that the government was duty bound to look after the people and that it would not hesitate to bring in any laws necessary for that purpose.

Participating in the debate on the Presidential proclamation to declare an emergency, the Minister said that food security was an integral part of national security, and therefore the government would bring all necessary laws or enact any existing laws to achieve that objective.

  “There is a food mafia. We are fighting it. It is an uncivilised act to create a food shortage at a time like this. The government has a responsibility to enforce laws to protect the interests of the people. We will defeat this mafia without considering their party affiliations. Unfortunately, the Opposition is not helping us overcome this obstacle. It looks as if the Opposition had joined forces with the virus to fight against the government.”

Minister Weerasekera said: “We faced two world wars, two rebellions and fought a war against terrorism for 30 years. We never had food shortages. The prevailing shortages are artificially created. We are determined to fight those who are hoarding food and essential supplies. The Opposition members are eagerly waiting to see the crisis worsen day by day. They are deriving some perverse pleasure from the suffering of the public. They are wishing for food scarcities to gain political mileage. They want the people to take to the streets. They want to see the number of COVID-19 deaths increase to thousands. Their objective is to see anarchy in the country. I do not think that there is another Opposition anywhere in the world like the one this country is burdened with.”