Sri Lanka, Feb. 10 -- We are in the midst of a heatwave. Temperatures are rising, the days are bright, but for the majority of our people, this is a very dark era. Dark, because they can see no way to break out of the stark poverty-stricken situation they find themselves in.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country in January 2020, the numbers of people who found themselves out of employment rose to an astounding 500,000, according to figures provided by the Central Bank. Most of these individuals were temporary workers at construction sites, as well as those working on road development projects around the country.
To make matters worse, the Covid-19 pandemic saw the forced return of our migrant workers; the inflow of cash from migrant...