Sri Lanka crisis: No shortage until August, says Litro Gas chairman

Amid the ongoing protests against the economic crisis, Sri Lanka's Litro Gas Chairman Muditha Peiris on Monday assured that there will be no shortage of gas until August.

Peiris said that around 30,000 Litro Gas cylinders will be distributed in Sri Lanka on Monday and another 120,000 cylinders will be distributed around the island nation on Tuesday.

A total of 80,000 cylinders weighing 12.5 kg, 20,000 cylinders weighing 5kg and another 20,000 cylinders weighing 2.3kg will be distributed around the country on Tuesday as promised, local media reported, quoting the Litro Gas chairman.

The distribution of the cylinders will start tomorrow morning, he added.

"Another 20,000MT of gas will be received soon, and it is to reach the Maldives. After July 20, another four gas shipments will arrive in the country," Peiris said.

The country will receive Litro Gas shipments on July 20,22,24,29 and 31, it reported.

"With the receiving of continuous gas shipments, the current gas shortage in the country will be covered by July 31," he added.

The Litro Gas chairman guaranteed that the country will not face shortage of domestic gas cylinders until August.

The price of a 12.5kg domestic gas cylinder rose by Rs50 taking the current price to Rs4,910.

However, the company was in a decision to increase the gas prices by Rs200, local media reported.

Therefore, consumers were advised not to buy gas cylinders at higher prices than the maximum retail prices.

Along with the maximum price in Colombo, a transport charge was introduced starting at Rs35 which will be added to the selling price in other provinces, Peiris said.

The chairman said that currently, the country has 33,000 Metric Tonnes of gas stock which will be sufficient until July 31 adding that around 100,000 MT of gas will be received that will be sufficient until the end of August.

Notably, Sri Lanka has been facing the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, leading to an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas, and fuel across the island nation.

The economic crisis has particularly impacted food security, agriculture, livelihoods, and access to health services.

Sri Lanka is one of the few nations named by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which is expected to go without food due to the global food shortage expected this year.

The development comes after protesters stormed into President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's official home and later broke into Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's private residence and set it on fire on Saturday.

Both President Rajapaksa and PM Wickremesinghe have announced to step down from their posts amid the ongoing protests.

ALSO READ:

• Sri Lanka crisis: Cabinet ministers to resign after all-party government formed

• Flydubai suspends Sri Lanka flights until further notice as unrest intensifies

• Asia