Sharp drop in prices of consumer items in Jaffna

There has been a sharp drop in the prices of consumer items in Jaffna following the efforts of Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare, Douglas Devananda.

The Ministry of Social Services and Social Welfare has now chartered a vessel to take food and other essential items to Jaffna which is being used by private traders to transport their goods to Jaffna.

A shipment of red onions and tobacco weighing 2000 mt.tonnes was brought from Jaffna for the first time last week and it is being unloaded at the Colombo harbour. The Ministry of Social Services has made arrangements to bring agricultural products from Jaffna when the ships operated by the ministry returns to Colombo after they unload the essential food items in the North.

The arrangement to ship agricultural items from Jaffna was a great relief for the Jaffna farming community as they were unable to send their harvest to the south since the A-9 highway was closed last year, a ministry spokesperson said.

Apart from onions, tobacco and grapes, palmyra products were also shipped to Colombo from the peninsula last week, the spokesman said. He said that there were several private ship operators transporting essential items between Colombo and Jaffna but they were charging exorbitant rates for transportation.

The poor farmers could not afford to pay such high prices. Therefore the Social Services Ministry has offered assistance to ship the products from Jaffna at reasonable rates.

Earlier farmers who had spent a large amount on their cultivation could not send their excess products out of Jaffna as there was no transportation available. Now they can transport their goods and benefit financially, the spokesman said.