Forex Crisis: Sri Lanka Deploys Militia At Fuel Stations

Colombo, March 22: Army personnel were deployed at all fuel stations run by the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corp in Sri Lanka on Tuesday amidst a shortage that led to long queues of consumers.

Military spokesman Nilantha Premaratna said the military personnel were posted to monitor the distribution of fuel at the filling stations and maintain law and order. He said two soldiers were deployed at every fuel station as people had to stand in queues for as long as several hours.

Three people died and one person was killed in recent days while standing in the fuel queues in different parts of the country, leading to a tense situation in several areas. The government has assured that fuel would be distributed sufficiently and the required stocks were now arriving without disruption in the country.

Sri Lanka is facing a fuel shortage due to a foreign exchange crisis which the government says is being resolved by seeking economic relief from friendly nations.