Sri Lankan railway workers protest fuel cut with unannounced stoppage

July 1 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Sri Lankan railway workers have staged a lightning strike this Friday in protest at the lack of fuel that has prevented them from going to work in recent hours as a result of the harsh restrictions on distribution – without global precedent in half a century – – imposed by the Sri Lankan government this week.

The events have precipitated around noon (local time) during a spontaneous protest by passengers at the Fort Railway station, one of the most important railway hubs in the capital, Colombo, where some thirty train services have been paralyzed. due to lack of staff.

Shortly after, the Commercial Railways Union announced a three-hour stoppage that ended after the Sri Lankan government guaranteed employees an additional fuel shipment for the next few days.

Despite the brevity of the stoppage, significant delays in rail transport are expected throughout the day, according to the Sri Lankan news portal News First.

Months of economic crisis in the country have finally led to a situation of collapse, with inflation that has shot up 20 percentage points to 54.6 percent in the last month.

The country only has enough fuel to operate under normal conditions for a week and does not expect new shipments for about 15 days, which is why the government decided on Wednesday to limit the delivery of fuel to essential services.

With this decision, Sri Lanka became the first country in the world to restrict the sale of fuel to citizens since the oil crisis of the 1970s: owners of private vehicles will not be able to buy gasoline and diesel until July 10.