As the Sri Lankan economy continues to deteriorate, with shortages of everything from medications to gas, people are reverting to cooking with firewood. Sri Lanka was formerly a middle-income country, with a GDP per capita similar to the Philippines and living standards to rival neighbouring India. However, due to economic mismanagement and the critical tourism business being battered by Covid, the country has run out of money required to pay for most imports. And the agony is likely to last for some time, as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe stated in parliament on Tuesday: ‘We will encounter challenges in 2023 as well. This is the truth. This is the fact.’
The switch was flipped at the start of the year, when over 1,000 kitchens erupted around the country, killing at least seven people and wounding hundreds more. The explanation was that providers were trying to save money by increasing the quantity of propane, which increased the pressure to unsafe levels. However, as reported by AFP, gas, like much else in the country of 22 million people, is now either unavailable or too costly for the majority. Some attempted to switch to kerosene oil cookers, but the government lacked the funds to import them, along with fuel and diesel, all of which are in limited supply. Those who purchased electric cookers were in for an unpleasant awakening when the government imposed extended power outages as it ran out of dollars to import fuel for generators.
When her gas range burst just after preparing Sunday lunch in August, Niluka Hapuarachchi, 41, was luckily unhurt. ‘ Fortunately, no one was present. Glass shards were scattered throughout the floor. The glass-topped stove had blown up. I’ll never cook with gas again. It’s not secure. We are currently out of firewood ‘, she said, despite moves to address the propane problem. M.G. Karunawathi, 67, of a roadside diner, likewise shifted to wood, citing a choice between shutting her company and putting up with smoke and soot. W’hen we cook with firewood, we suffer from smoke inhalation, but we have no alternative,’ Karunawathi told AFP. “Firewood is likewise getting increasingly scarce and costly.’
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