Fuel price fury

About two or three weeks after we arrived here in Negombo the government put the price of fuel up. This is allegedly the direct result of American sanctions on Iran, where Sri Lanka buys most of it's fuel. (The opposition say that's nonsense and in any case they have a years worth of fuel, stockpiled for emergencies...it's just an excuse to make more money through tax).

Petrol went up least, where as Diesel and Kerosene went up more than double. Diesel is used by lorry and bus drivers, as well as fishermen, and Kerosene is also extremely important to the fishermen (who are some of the poorest people here) as they use it in both their boats and their homes (cooking/lighting etc). So when the prices went up there was a considerable amount of anger nationwide, amongst various groups of people, notably the bus drivers and fishermen.

They organised a nationwide strike, which went on for about a week, and blockaded the roads. The main (or should I say only...) road between Colombo and Puttlam in the north was blocked for a few days which caused mayhem. The fishermen didn't go out fishing for over a week, which meant no fish for anyone...and this also meant no fish in any of the restaurants for all the lovely rich tourists the government are trying to attract here.

Negombo is one of the largest fishing ports in the country, as well as being a huge tourist destination. It's a strange combination of people...tourists, who are by local standards very wealthy, and fishermen, who are by tourists standards, extremely poor. Most of the time they rub along nicely with fishermen occasionally making money out of tourists by taking them out on their boats (aside from the money they make selling fish to the tourists through the various hotels). But for about a week, when the fuel price went up (and it was a dramatic hike in price!) there was a noticeable tension in the normally placid air. The main street though the tourist area is called Sea street, and the fishermen blocked it at various points right the way along it, using anything they could find...fishing line, palm trees, and in some cases their boats, as well as burning tyres in the road. Depending on the level of anger of individual fishermen (and their wives) 'manning' the blockade you could either pass through, or go round another rout. I managed to go through most, though one fisherman was very angry at me for ducking under his line...The road is lined with restaurants, all of which exist to cater for tourists, and all of which had worried looking owners standing by the door wondering when this chaos would end and their trade would return to normal.

The normally peaceful air of the main road through the tourist area of Negombo is filled with burning rubber and roadblocks. 

Strangely as protests go, there was not a policeman in sight during the days this was going on. Although it looks chaotic, it all seemed to be politely tolerated...as long as it didn't go on too long.

Fishermen and their wives argue with people who want to drive through the roadblock.

It's a stand off... no vehicles, and in some cases people, allowed through. 

Eventually the army were called in to clear all the roads, and just hang around looking menacing. This seemed to go reasonably peacefully, though apparently there were some shots fired into the air. In Chilaw though (north of Negombo) one fisherman was killed in a similar incident...the army were called in to clear the road and shot one fisherman through the head, and injured two more. 

The army arrived after about a week...and cleared all the roadblocks and fishermen out of the way... Felt a bit nervous about pointing my camera at blokes with guns, so didn't take many pics of this...apparently I can be arrested for taking pictures of soldiers, policemen, or any government buildings. Just like home in that respect then...

Although one fisherman was killed in Chilaw, the whole protest here was a bit surreal.  A mixture of anger and resentment, but quite peacefully done... It did make me think though about how fragile the lives of the fishermen must be. Their livelihoods depend on catching fish. If the fuel price goes up they can't afford to return from a fishing trip without a good catch. Add to that the fact that some fishermen are being moved off their traditional beachside homes to make way for yet more expensive hotels for rich western tourists and you can understand why they may feel angry. This is the point where the two worlds (fishing and tourism) seem to collide. I think I may be doing some more pictures about this...