Srilanka, Feb. 10 -- Our government is battling it out on many fronts in regard to the promises it made while campaigning for the presidential and general elections. It spoke of bringing down the cost of living and lessening the burdens on the worse-off section of our people.

Unfortunately though four long months have passed, our people are finding it difficult to find rice these days. To make this situation worse, the price is way beyond the means of the consumer. While salaries have remained stagnant, unfortunately, the price of most basic foods keeps increasing.

One cannot blame the present government especially for being suddenly faced with the problem of missing rice. After all, it was this newspaper which broke that piece of news...