Sri Lanka: Protests erupt countrywide against fuel price hike

By Charles Haviland | BBC Sinhala
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Bus and lorry operators have gone on strike across Sri Lanka in response to sudden steep rises in the cost of fuel.

Roads have also been blockaded by fishermen who say the price hikes will ruin their livelihood.

There are fears that other basic goods will now get more expensive.

The dramatic rises in the cost of oil products came almost without notice late on Saturday.


Protestors in Negombo - 13 February 2012

In one fell swoop, the cost of diesel – used in buses and lorries – has increased by 36%, and that of kerosene, used by many poorer people, by a crippling 49%. Petrol has gone up by just nine percent.

Many people have responded angrily to the increases.


Protestors in Anuradhapura - 13 February 2012

In Chilaw on the west coast, fishermen burned tyres and blocked road traffic, chasing away the security forces and demanding a fuel subsidy. Private buses – which are more than half the total – have mostly been on strike, so people have had to use jam-packed public ones.

More than 40 people were arrested for attacking vehicles which ignored the stoppage.


Protestors in Anuradhapura - 13 February 2012

There are warnings of imminent rises in the prices of basic foods and of electricity, much of which is generated by fossil fuels in Sri Lanka.

The government says soaring world oil prices and a recent devaluation of the currency made the fuel price rises inevitable.

The opposition called the changes "anti-poor" and said they had been brought in to satisfy conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund, which is disbursing a large loan to the island.


Protestors in Chilaw - 13 February 2012

Many bus operators say they can no longer function unless the government gives them fuel subsidies or allows them to increase fares.

The authorities are nervous that US sanctions against Iran - being enforced in July - will worsen the fuel problem, as Sri Lanka gets 90% of its crude oil imports from Iran.

© BBC Sinhala