Former Minister and founder of the Pathfinder Foundation, Milinda Moragoda has called on all 35 Presidential candidates to address the ageing time bomb which is facing Sri Lanka today.
“The United Nations has identified that Sri Lanka has the oldest population in South Asia and has one of the fastest ageing populations in the world. In the 1980s the working age population greatly outnumbered our senior citizens but today around 13.9% or three million over sixties make up the 20.96 million people living in Sri Lanka. At current estimates that figure will rise to 28.6% by 2050 which, based on present population levels, will mean around 5.9 million pensioners who will need looking after he said. With past governments prevaricating over this issue, the necessary structures are not in place to help our people as they grow older. “Promising the earth is a favourite pastime of politicians at election time. But on this subject we need concrete answers and practical solutions” he added