By Saman Indrajith

The government’s decision to place mobile phones and communication equipment on the list of non-essential goods to import would result in sharp increases in their prices, UNP Deputy Leader Ruwan Wijewardene told an event organised to mark the UNP’s 75th anniversary..

Addressing a meeting of party activists by zoom, the UNP Deputy Leader said the import restrictions would place parents wanting to support children’s online education in further difficulty.

“Parents found it hard to buy laptops, mobile phones and tablet computers for their children even before this draconian ruling, so one can imagine what it will be like with its introduction. When we attempted to give tablet computers free of charge to all schoolchildren, those who are now in the government then in the Opposition opposed it. They did everything under the sun to sabotage that project. Today, we stand vindicated; if we had been able to carry out that project children would have been in a better position to continue their education,” Wijewardene said.

 He said that the children of rich families would be able to continue their education while the majority who are from poor backgrounds would not be able to afford the new prices of communication equipment. “This will worsen the disparities in education and pave the way for distancing of children from education. It will also be detrimental to equal rights in education,” he said.

 The new regulations would also be detrimental to the majority of those engaged in import businesses, he said. “We have large scale as well as small scale import businessmen. These new regulations will put an end to the businesses of most small scale importers. As per the new regulations there is a 100-percent cash margin deposit requirement against the import of goods that have been classified as non-essential. The large scale importers would not find it hard, instead they will see it as a business opportunity because for them that cash-margin deposit is an investment that could help them to acquire monopoly in the market as all small scale importers would be wiped out unable to meet the 100 percent cash margin requirement,” Wijewardene said.

 He said that the new regulations would result in price increases of all essential goods too in the long run. “The government has no solutions to the problems created by the prevailing situation. It has opted for a Band-Aid solution by replacing the Central Bank Governor. That would not solve the problem, its solution has the potential to worsen the situation,” the UNP Deputy Leader added.