Food for thought

Wednesday, 29 December 2010 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

ISSUES of importance have a habit of becoming politicised in Sri Lanka, often with dire consequences for the masses. Every festive season brings with it increased food prices and this year is no different. Prices of essential items are soaring and people are disgruntled. The Government, understanding the corner it is in, made ambitious plans to at least moderate the fallout by making massive imports just days before the crucial Christmas and New Year rush, with rather drastic results.

To date the promised stocks of eggs and chicken have not been released to the market. Conflicting reports of the imports are being made from various quarters and most worryingly, Customs officials seem to be clueless about the shipments. Normally they are expected to be aware of the documents and testing that is required before the stocks are released into the market. If the Government has succumbed to pressure and decided to fast-track the process without conducting the proper tests, consumers could be in for trouble – A fact that is not too farfetched to suppose, but should be considered carefully before panicking needlessly.

The same threat of health for the fauna and flora is provoking protests from the UNP over the coconut imports from Pakistan. They allege that diseases could be transferred from the new coconuts and that it would be unsafe to release them on a large scale. One positive point is that the Government has been persuaded to grant the fertiliser subsidy, with each bag getting a relief discount of Rs. 1,000. But the results of this will be long-term. The delay of exports and then the contention of when they will be released and what effects they will have are leaving the people with thinner wallets and low expectations.

The ire is, to a certain extent, deserved. Successive governments have struggled with and finally gone down due to the cost of living juggernaut that crushes the best plans and leaves weaker governments in its wake. The chief sacrifice is of course the consumer affairs minister, who has to face the brunt of criticisms and endless calls from the media, while attempting to implement stopgap measures. The same old condemnation of ineffective policy measures, inadequate strengthening of local industries and food security measures get flogged, while with the lapse of time grumbling subsides and officials heave a sigh of relief.

It is only a matter of time before the food price crisis blows over and people turn their attention to something else, before time brings it around again.

This cycle is as predictable as the calendar, but an issue that demands more attention is the mismanagement of resources. The Government has not released the expense incurred by all these last minute imports yet; nor has it managed to outline how such a crisis will be minimised in the future.

Increasing Government involvement in trade may not be the answer, but rather encouraging local producers to manage their stocks and resources better so that essential food items will be available in buffer stocks at crucial times during the year.

Come Sinhala and Tamil New Year the same problem will arise, but the challenge for the Government will be to see if they can reply with different policies and plans. The people are waiting to see if they will have a cheaper spread and more dependable action for their representatives.