President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's blanket ban on the import of spices, intended to strengthen Sri Lanka's economy, has led to a growing black market.
When Gotabaya took office as President, he promised that his government would focus on supporting domestic agriculture. His ban on the import of spices was intended to strengthen the Sri Lankan economy by promoting domestic production. However, the restrictions has created a turmeric shortage and a growing black market.
Sri Lanka produces only 2,000 tonnes of turmeric a year against a domestic demand of 7000 tonnes. The demand-supply gap has driven the price of a single kg of turmeric to 4,000 to 5,000 LKR from 325 LKR.
The New Indian Express reported that turmeric is being smuggled from Tamil Nadu, India to the North East via four main routes - from Velankanni, Kodiyakarai and Vedaranyam to Point Pedro in Jaffna; from Sethubavarchatram in Thanjavur district to Jaffna; Trespuram in Thoothukudi to Mannar, Kilinochchi and Puttalam and from Dhanushkodi in Ramanathapuram to Mannar, Kilinochchi and Puttalam.
Vedaranyam in Tamil Nadu is home to many cartels, notorious for procuring and smuggling ganja to Sri Lanka. Officials said, “the same modus operandi is being followed for smuggling turmeric.”
An official from Indian Coastal Intelligence Service stated they had intercepted several attempts of smuggling, however noted that they, “are operating with limited personnel” and require more staff to keep up.
Recently, the Tamil Nadu 'Q branch' police confiscated 75 bags containing 2,000 kilograms of turmeric which were being smuggled to Sri Lanka by boat from Dhanushkodi.
In the past few weeks, fishermen from the island have not been allowed to fish in the sea as curfew has been in place on weekends due to the increase in the spread of COVID-19 virus. As a result, the smugglers have not been able to reach Sri Lankan territory under the guise of fishermen.
Read more here.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
