Sri Lanka Tightens Virus Curbs on Gatherings Ahead of Protest

(Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka is imposing new virus curbs to limit the size of public gatherings, just days before the political opposition planned to hold the first major protest against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government since it swept to power last August. 

The government issued an extraordinary gazette late on Thursday making it mandatory to obtain approval from the director-general of health services for gatherings to stop the spread of Covid-19. Infections and deaths were brought under controls in September after an extended lock down, but have been ticking up in recent days.

The move comes as the main opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya called for a demonstration next Tuesday in Colombo that was expected to draw over 10,000 people. This includes farmers who have been protesting a government decision to ban imported chemical fertilizers as crops start to fail. 

“The opposition’s plan to use the new normalization only for protests and demonstrations is unfortunate,” Rajapaksa’s office said in a statement. “There is a risk of the Covid-19 spreading again due to various activities including protests and demonstrations. This situation could lead to the country being shut down again.” 

Covid lockdowns have virtually stopped earnings from the tourism sector, putting Sri Lanka under pressure to repay bond maturities as foreign exchange reserves decline. This has raised the risk of sovereign bond defaults and the country is looking to get more loans and other funding from countries, including China, to shore up its reserves. 

Sri Lanka stopped imports of some goods and this was an opportunity to put in place a 2019 plan to ban incoming shipments of chemical fertilizer. The country wants to be the first in the world to grow 100% organic produce, an aim that has been panned by experts and farmers who say chemical fertilizers have been used for decades and a shift could lead to crop failure. 

Fertilizers are heavily used in Sri Lanka’s tea, coconut and cashew plantations that are the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of smaller farmers and workers -- a key vote bank for the ruling party and the opposition. 

The subject of fertilizers has also started to test ties between Sri Lanka and a key ally, China. A Sri Lankan government agency rejected a shipment of organic fertilizer from a Chinese company for having pathogens, sparking a legal tussle. 

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