Schools cancelled term tests and outpatient departments at hospitals closed due to the work stoppage that involved more than 40 trade unions. Fewer vehicles were seen on roads.
COLOMBO - Sri Lanka deployed armed troops as trade unions crippled hospitals, ports and banks Wednesday to protest against high income taxes imposed as a precondition for a crucial IMF bailout.
Armed soldiers were deployed at railway stations as well as the port as the government attempted tried to restore minimum services. Dock workers had a tense standoff with the military inside the port, but there were no reports of clashes. The strike came despite a ban imposed by Wickremesinghe last month, and warnings that violators could lose their jobs.
"Anyone who violates the essential services order will face the full force of the law," cabinet spokesperson Bandula Gunawardana had warned ahead of the nationwide action. "Sri Lanka is one of the countries with the lowest tax revenues in the world. Unless state revenue is increased, there is no solution to the country's economic crisis," a Sri Lankan official told AFP.
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