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| Sunday, 13 January 2002 |
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Reduce prices of essential goods The Jaffna Consumer Protection Society will appeal for the lowering of the selling prices of essential goods in the Jaffna peninsula to Minister Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena today when he makes his first visit to the now peaceful Jaffna peninsula. Secretary of the Consumer Protection Society of Jaffna, Mrs. Saroja Sivachandran told the 'Sunday Observer' that the society will submit a memorandum to the minister informing him of the high prices of some of the goods and appeal for redress. Mrs. Sivachandran said that the society will specifically request the minister to take action against the selling of kerosene through agents and urge for action to be taken for it to be sold only through co-operatives as had been the procedure earlier. According to the society secretary, kerosene, which is being sold at Rs. 73 a litre in Jaffna, is handled completely by the blackmarket. Meanwhile, the Jaffna Chamber of Commerce members who met a seven-member delegation of the Colombo Federation of Chamber of Commerce is scheduled to inform the minister of the hardships faced by the traders in Jaffna due to the closure of the Jaffna-Kandy A9 route which has come to a virtual standstill for transportation of goods from Jaffna to Colombo and vice versa. The appeal for the opening of the land route from Jaffna to Colombo is to be supported by the University dons of Jaffna as well as the students union of Jaffna. They will base their request on grounds of trade development and as a bid to reduce the high prices of goods sold in the peninsula as a result of transporting constraints from Colombo to Jaffna. The Consumer Protection Society Secretary further said that they would present Minister Jayawardena with a price list of goods sold at much higher rates in Jaffna, including sugar, sold at Rs. 48 a kilo, rice - Rs. 42 a kilo, coconut - Rs. 45 each, green gram - Rs. 90 a kilo and a bottle of coconut oil holding less than a litre - Rs. 120. Mrs. Sivachandran said that the high prices of goods were a big burden to the people of Jaffna,al. especially during their preparation for Thai Pong Among other grievances that the traders hoped to bring to the notice of the Minister was the fact that only four traders were facilitated to bring goods from Colombo, thereby creating a shortfall of consumer items. According to the consumer protection society of the peninsula, the District Secretary of Jaffna, Kandiah Shanmuganathan was informed on several occasions about this state of affairs. Meanwhile, all non governmental and academic organisations of Jaffna will also present a common appeal to the Minister for the provision of housing loans including some form of compensation for the Jaffna residents to rebuild their houses destroyed by the war. Nearly ninety nine percent of the houses of Jaffna residents have been ravaged by the war forcing a large number to make camps for the displaced as their homes. |
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