Like a ray of hope on the horizon, fireworks briefly lit up the Sri Lankan sky in the hours following the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday July 14, five days after he was forced to flee his residence by a crowd of angry protesters. But the euphoria was short-lived, immediately driven away by the reality of an economic crisis which interfered in all aspects of daily life. Barely minutes from the protesters’ camp, a strange silence fell on the streets of Colombo. In recent weeks, automobile traffic has almost come to a standstill and only the cawing of crows can be heard, like the melody of a country in slow motion, hampered in its progress by incessant shortages. Even traffic lights no longer systematically turn red, affected by daily power cuts.
On the side of the road stretches a long line of vehicles, parked one behind the other, for several kilometers. The mechanics are well oiled. Three lines run in parallel: one for cars, one for tuk-tuks – taxi-tricycles – and a final one for two-wheelers. At the end, a service station closed, for lack of supply. “It’s my fifth day of waiting and I’m not sure if the station will be supplied with fuel today”details Fahad Kawas, salesman in a subsidiary of John Keells, the largest Sri Lankan conglomerate.
Mass departures
This 32-year-old father slept there four nights in a row. “I went home once to take a shower and change my clothes”, explains this man who absolutely has to get 6 liters of fuel to get to the airport. Then he can finally book his plane ticket to Qatar, where a new life awaits him. Due to galloping inflation (54.6% in June), his salary of 100,000 rupees, or around 275 euros, is no longer enough to feed his family. “We can’t even buy bread anymore. I usually just have lunch and sometimes I have dinner”, laments Fahad Kawas. According to the United Nations, 80% of the population now skips meals.
“Gota is gone, but will the next president do better? I do not know “still worries Mr. Kawas, who will double his salary thanks to this new delivery job in Qatar. “The idea of leaving my children, who are only 4 and 2 years old, behind me, tears me apart, I cried about it, but for them, I have to leave”, he laments. He failed to obtain a passport for his wife and their children.
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