Survey reveals that people eat less both quality & quantity-wise

By Maheen Senanayake

An Aug. 2014 survey reveals that around 15% of Sri Lankans say that they have cut back on the number of meals they have per day, with the upcountry Tamil community again being the most affected with 44.3% saying that they have cut back as has 36.6% of the larger Tamil community who said the same.

The survey conducted for the third time by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) on ‘Democracy in post-war Sri Lanka’ sought to record public perspectives on democracy in Sri Lanka. Now on its third track, it relied on a sample of 1,900 Lankans from the four main ethnic groups from 25 districts using a stratified random sampling approach.

Its top findings:

* When asked how the general economic situation in the country has changed over the last two years,31.9% believe that it has got a little better, almost 27% say that it has got a little worse and 18.5%say that it has got a lot worse.

* On the current economic situation of the country, 36.7% believe that it is somewhat good, 30.6% say somewhat bad and 19.5% say that it is very bad.

* When it comes to the financial situation of the household, things seem to have gotten worse in the last two years. Almost 30% say that it has got a little worse while 25.6% say that it has got a lot worse.

*24.2% say they have gone without medicine or medical treatment in the last year, with the upcountry Tamil community (58.2%) being the worst affected.

*Compromising on food quality, 42.7% say that they have cut back on the amount or quality of food they have purchased.

*Almost 60% of the upcountry Tamil community, 43.1% from the Sinhalese, 47.9% from the larger Tamil Community and 25% from the Muslim community say that they have made these choices regarding food quality in the last year.

*Around 80% believe that the general security situation in the country has got better in the last two years, with 38.4% stating that it has got a lot better.

*On reconciliation, 40.8% believe that the Government has done a little, but not enough to address the root causes of the conflict which resulted in thirty years of war.

*39.9% from the Tamil community and 33.3% from the upcountry Tamil community believe that the Government has done nothing to address the root causes of the war while only 3.1% from the Sinhalese and 6.3% of the Muslims expressed this view.

* 35% from the Sinhalese community said the Government has done a lot to address the root causes while only 2.3% from the Tamil, 11.5% from the upcountry Tamil and 8.6% from the Muslim communities said the same.

*Around 54% say that they approve of the increase in the role of the forces in civilian tasks, with 17% saying that they strongly approve. 41.6% from the Sinhalese said that they somewhat approve of this role while 30.2%from the Tamil community said that they strongly disapproved.

*24.5% say that after the end of war Sri Lanka is much more democratic.

*73.4% think that the official language of Sri Lanka is Sinhala only, with only 11%saying it is Sinhala and Tamil.

*If an unjust law is passed by the Government, 29% believe that there is nothing they can do about it

Iromie Perera, Senior Researcher at CPA said " The financial situation of the household seems to have got worse in the last two years – almost 30% say that it has got a little worse while 25.6% say that it has got a lot worse. 24.2% state that they have gone without medicine or medical treatment in the last year, with the upcountry Tamil community (58.2%) being the most affected. Compromising on food quality, 42.7% say that they have cut back on the amount or quality of food they have purchased with again the upcountry Tamil community being the most affected (almost 60%)."

Perera who has lead all three of the surveys said " When it comes to reconciliation, divisions in opinion between the communities persist. 40.8% of Sri Lankans believe that the Government has done a little, but not enough to address the root causes of the conflict, which resulted in thirty years of war. 39.9% from the Tamil community and 33.3% from the upcountry Tamil community believe that the Government has done nothing to address the root causes of the war while 35% from the Sinhalese community said the Government has done a lot to address the root causes."