News

Leading rice miller stops paddy purchasing citing losses, PMB still out of picture

Published

3 years ago

2022/09/30

By Sanath Nanayakkare

Leading rice miller, Lankeshwara Mithrapala says he has suspended purchasing paddy because it is not proper to purchase paddy from farmers at prices lower than Rs. 120 per kilo, and if he did purchase at that price, he would have to absorb a loss of Rs. 23 from each kilo of rice.

This is happening at a time the government has declared a certified price for paddy at Rs. 120 and the state-run Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) is keeping itself completely out of its main task of purchasing paddy from farmers to ensure a competitive and fair price to them.

When asked if there was some connivance between government officials and private millers to enable the purchasing of paddy at the lowest prices imaginable, Mithrapala said,” We don’t want anyone’s help to run our rice mills. But we can’t buy paddy at Rs. 120 per kilo and let the end-consumer buy a kilo of rice at Rs. 220-230 because of the loss we have to absorb in the process. There are various other brands, Nipuna, Araliya, Lak Sahal etc. If they could buy paddy at Rs. 120, they would because this is a competitive business. But they can’t buy at that price either because that would cause a substantial loss,” he said.

“If the government starts purchasing paddy, the farmers will be relieved,” he said.

Responding to queries, he said: “I bought paddy at Rs. 118-119 about 3-4 days ago. We can’t ask for paddy from farmers at prices lower than that. So, I decided to stop purchasing paddy and produce rice from existing stocks and release them to the market. It is better to stop buying paddy if Rs. 120 can’t be paid for a kilo of paddy. So, the government must intervene,” he said.

When asked if his business was running at a loss, he said,” I have enough money to operate my businesses. But I don’t have funds to collect and keep paddy stocks. What I am saying is that I will purchase paddy at Rs. 120 and will give rice at Rs. 220 per kilo. But to do that the government must declare a six-month moratorium on bank loans. If we have money to buy paddy stocks we would do so without seeking bank facilities because working with our own capital would bring us higher returns. But what do we do if we don’t have money?”

Elaborating on his costing issue he said: “When you buy paddy at Rs. 120 a kilo, there are other costs to take into calculation to run the business sustainably. It takes 1.6 kilos of paddy to produce a kilo of rice. This means the paddy cost itself would be Rs. 192. So when you buy at Rs.120, it actually costs Rs. 192 for paddy alone. For each kilo of rice; Rs. 7 for packaging, Rs. 7 for transport, Rs. 3.50 for electricity, Rs. 8.50 for employee salaries and food, Rs. 10-12 for bank interest.

Then there are the EPF and ETF payments and wear and tear costs of machinery. All these need to be calculated and recovered. These costs amount to about Rs 46 per kilo of rice. Effectively, therefore, the total cost of a kilo of rice is Rs. 238. But we sell to retailers at Rs. 215 and they sell at Rs. 220.

“So, this means that we are releasing our stocks to the market at a loss. That’s why we are saying that we can’t buy paddy at Rs. 120,” he said.

Meanwhile, a group of farmers in Polonnaruwa said: “We are compelled to sell our paddy to private sector traders because the government is just sitting around leaving the big rice millers to buy paddy. When the government does not come forward to break the monopoly of the private traders, we have no option but to sell our harvest to them at lower prices. When we sell them paddy at Rs. 100 a kilo, the income from one acre of paddy is only about Rs. 200,000 ,which is not enough to cover our inputs and labour cost. Big rice millers are making the most of this situation.”

The warehouses of PMB still remain closed and farmers have not been informed whether it would enter the market to purchase their paddy.A source familiar with state sector banking told The Island that PMB had outstanding loans of over Rs. 2 billion payable to the state banks.

All News Advertisement

News

GMOA swings into action on Vithana’s disclosure of MPs’ salaries, etc.

Published

1 hour ago

2025/07/15

Sahan Weerasooriya

MP Vithana / Dr. Sugathadasa

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has sought an explanation from Parliament regarding how PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is applied to parliamentarians.

GMOA Secretary Dr. Prabath Sugathadasa has written to the Secretary General of Parliament, Kushani Rohanadeera, in terms of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Information was sought on 09 July, 2025, in the wake of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Kalutara district parliamentarian Jagath Vithana posting his pay sheets from January to May this year on his Facebook.

In addition to information on PAYE, the GMOA has posed a number of other questions to the Secretary General regarding the parliamentarians’ salary as well as pensions.

Parliament passed the RTI Act on 24 June, 2016, and it came into effect on 03 February, 2017. This act, introduced through the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, in 2015, is meant to promote transparency and accountability in government.

New controversy has erupted in the wake of Nawa Janatha Peramuna lodging a complaint with the CIABOC seeking an investigation into Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickremaratne abusing public property, a claim denied by the Secretary General of Parliament.

According to Vithana’s May pay sheet, his monthly allowance is Rs. 54,285, entertainment allowance Rs 1,000, telephone allowance Rs 50,000, sitting allowance Rs 5,000, office allowance Rs 100,000, fuel allowance Rs 97,428.92 and transport allowance Rs. 15,000. His take home pay is Rs 317, 760.92 after the deduction of Rs 1,200 for catering, stamp duty Rs. 25 and Advance Personal Income Tax (APIT).

Asked whether he regretted the releasing of pay sheets, lawmaker Vithana told The Island that in the run-up to the last parliamentary elections, held in November 2024, he had promised the Kalutara electorate he wouldn’t draw his salary. The MP said that however, he later felt the salary should be accepted and used in support of public welfare projects undertaken by him. “Therefore, the money was used appropriately,” he said, adding that both the government and Opposition MPs reacted with resentment. “I feel sort of isolated in Parliament. Hardly anyone talks to me,” MP Vithana said.

Dr. Sugathadasa said that having perused the pay sheets posted online, the GMOA had felt the urgent need to seek a clarification from Parliament as the lawmakers appeared to have received special status. The top GMOA official emphasised they wanted to establish the truth and used the RTI law to obtain information regarding the MPs’ salaries, pensions and other related information. “The GMOA made the request on 09 July, 2025. We are confident the Parliament will answer our queries,” Dr. Sugathadasa said.

Parliament meets only eight days a month. Attendance is not compulsory and there is no fixed time for lawmakers to attend sittings. Over the years, sittings have been suspended for lack of quorum.

The Island asked the GMOA official whether they would seek the intervention of the RTI Commission in case the Parliament declined to reveal the information sought by them. Dr. Sugathadasa said that the Executive Committee of the GMOA would decide the course of action if Parliament withheld information.

A few years ago Chamara Sampath, of Wijeya Newspapers, successfully moved the Court of Appeal against the Parliament after the latter refused to disclose names of Members of Parliament (MPs) who had handed over their respective declarations of assets and liabilities in 2018 and list of names of MPs who have handed over their Declarations from 2010 to the time he made the request (21 June, 2018).

The Court on 28 February, 2023, reaffirmed the RTI Commission’s stand that Declarations of Assets and Liabilities Law of 1975 (DALL) didn’t prevail over the Right to Information Act no. 12 of 2016 (RTI Act).

According to the Parliament website, an MP is paid Rs. 54,285, entertainment allowance Rs 1,000, driver’s allowance Rs 3,500 (only if driver is not provided by government). Fuel allowances are paid based on the distance from Parliament to the electoral district which each MP was elected and the approved market price of one litre of diesel on the first day of every month, telephone allowance Rs 50,000, transport allowance for personal staff Rs 10,000, and stamps worth Rs 350,000 issued to each MP annually.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

News

Udaya alleges Prez hasn’t given up efforts to bring in outsider as AG

Published

1 hour ago

2025/07/15

Sahan Weerasooriya

Sri Lanka Educator Service Lecturers’ Trade Union yesterday (14) protested outside the Education Ministry, demanding that the government address their grievances. (Pic by Nishan S. Priyantha)

Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader and former Minister Udaya Gammanpila says President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has delayed making a permanent appointment to the post of Auditor General in a bid to bring in an outsider early next year.

Addressing the media yesterday (14), Attorney-at-Law Gammanpila said that three civil society members of the Constitutional Council, who opposed the President’s move, would be completing their term in early January next year. Instead of appointing Dharmapala Gammanpila as the Auditor General, the President had given him only an extension in service so as to get rid of him at the first available opportunity and bring in his crony from the Kelaniya University.

The former lawmaker said that the success of the President’s plan depended on the appointment of pliant civil society members to the CC, ready to help advance the NPP’s agenda.

News

Poaching: 24 boats, 181 Indians taken into custody so far this year

Published

1 hour ago

2025/07/15

Sahan Weerasooriya

Fishermen taken into custody

In spite of specific warnings issued by fisheries minister Ramalingam Chandrasekar to Indian poachers, trawlers are continuously crossing the Indo-Lanka maritime boundary.

Navy headquarters yesterday (14) said that so far this year they have detained 24 Indian fishing boats and taken into custody 181 fishermen for poaching in Sri Lankan waters. The arrested included seven taken off the Delft Island, Jaffna in the early hours of Sunday.

Navy headquarters spokesman said that operations were conducted taking into account the harmful impact of prohibited fishing practices such as bottom trawling resorted to by Indian poachers, on the livelihood of local fishermen.

Having observed Indian fishing boats off Delft, the Northern Naval Command deployed its craft to drive away those Indian fishing boats from island waters, off the Delft Island.

The detained boat and Indian fishermen were brought to the Kankasanthurai Harbour and handed over to the Fisheries Inspector of Mailadi, Jaffna for legal proceedings.