President Ranil Wickremesinghe has signed a Gazette notification a short while ago declaring several services as essential.

The gazette notification declares public transports services for passengers or goods, discharge, carriage, landing, storage, delivery & removal of articles of food or drink, or coal, oil, fuel from vessels within any port as defined for the purposes of the Customs Ordinance (Chapter 235), the provision and maintenance of facilities for transport services by road, rail or air, including roads, bridges, culverts, airports, ports & railway lines, as essential services with immediate effect, the PMD notes.