A Quebecer living in Sri Lanka explains the crisis to you

Sri Lankans have been protesting for months against the economic crisis in their country. Quebecer, who has lived in the country for over a year, describes the conflict to you.

• Also Read: How Sri Lanka got caught up in the turmoil

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“There is an ongoing crisis, first of all financially. The country has had no US dollars for some time due to the mismanagement of political parties. There is also Covid, which means there are fewer tourists,” explained Guillaume Bleu, an entrepreneur in technological development.

After more than 100 days of demonstrations to oust President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from office, he promised to resign on Saturday. According to Quebecer, the shortage of gasoline in the country was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“The crisis has become an oil crisis, so people are queuing for a few kilometers and sleeping in their cars for a few days to get some gas,” he testified.

Sri Lanka is also plagued by daily power outages, leaving people increasingly dependent on non-existent oil.

“There will be power cut till 1 pm. It is worse during dry season as hydroelectric dams do not work at optimum capacity. Hence they are dependent on non-existent oil. We, at home, have got a solar panel and batteries to compensate for that,” said Mr Blue.

Watch his full interview above.