News
Treasury blamed for missing paddy stocks worth Rs 1.3 bn
United Rice Producers Association urges Prez to punish culprits
By Shamindra Ferdinando
The United Rice Producers Association (URPA) alleges that paddy stocks worth Rs 1.3 bn procured by the government in 2019/2020 Maha, 2020 Yala, 2020/2021 Maha and 2021 Yala seasons have not been accounted for.
URPA President W. D. K. Muditha Perera has, in a letter dated January 05, informed President Ranil Wickremesinghe that the paddy stocks at issue were to be sold through Sathosa outlets after being milled by small time operators. However, those plans never materialised, Perera has said, adding as much as 5,800,000 kilos of paddy went unaccounted for.
Muditha Perera told The Island that he had copied the letter to the Chairmen of the parliamentary watchdogs, COPE, COPA and COPF, Auditor General, Chairperson, CIABOC, Director, CID, and Secretaries to Finance, Public Administration and Agriculture.
The URPA has disclosed how government officials, at every level responsible for the implementation of the project in the Polonnaruwa, Puttalam and Trincomalee districts, sold some stocks to the private sector, thereby depriving the consumers of an opportunity to purchase rice from Sathosa, at an affordable price. According to Muditha Perera, stocks of paddy, procured at Rs 50-55 per kilo, could have been easily sold at less than Rs 100.
The trade unionist pointed out that even when a kilo of rice went up to Rs 250 – Rs 300 in June last year, the Divisional Secretaries refrained from releasing stocks available with them.
Muditha Perera found fault with the Finance Ministry for failing to supervise the overall implementation of the project. Having released the required funds for the paddy purchasing scheme, the Finance Ministry couldn’t have turned a blind eye to what was going on in the paddy producing regions.
The then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa served as the Finance Minister, from Nov. 2019 to June 2021. Basil Rajapaksa succeeded him in June and was dropped from the Cabinet of Ministers in April 2022. Ali Sabry, PC, held the finance portfolio for several weeks before Ranil Wickremesinghe succeeded Sabry in late May 2022.
S.R. Attygalle served as the Finance Secretary.
Muditha Perera said that Polonnaruwa District Secretary, though being informed of corruption and manipulation of the entire process of Dec 03, 2020, quite conveniently failed to take remedial measures. Accusing the District Secretary of allowing the racket to continue for two years, Muditha Perera said that the Director, Agriculture, Polonnaruwa, suppressed information sought in terms of the Right to Information Act.
Muditha Perera alleged that major millers had benefited from the racket.
According to him, Polonnaruwa District Secretary, for two years delayed responding to his Association’s right to information query whereas Puttalam Divisional Secretary was still trying to sidestep the issue.
Muditha Perera said that the government could have averted massive losses if the Finance Ministry acted in the wake of SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva’s disclosure of the fraudulent activities in the scheme. The revelation was made during the budget debate on Dec 04, 2020, Muditha Perera said.
The Association alleged that the entire process had been corrupt and, in spite of the issue being raised in Parliament, those responsible allowed the Polonnaruwa, Puttalam and Trincomalee state administration to rob the Treasury and deny those struggling to make ends meet, rice at an affordable price.
Referring to media reports regarding donation of rice from China, India, Myanmar and even Tamil Nadu and significant imports at a time the country experienced a severe balance of payments crisis, Muditha Perera alleged the government allowed corrupt officials a free hand.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves,” Muditha Perera said, asserting that bigger frauds seemed to be encouraged by the powers that be.
… reminds AKD led over 560 protests during Yahapalanaya
Former Yahapalana Minister and United Republican Front (URF) leader Patali Champika Ranawaka yesterday (19) alleged that the JVP, which carried out over 560 protests during the 2015-2019 period, was now bent on preventing the Opposition from exercising its democratic right to protest.
Recalling the declaration made by the JVP at the height of the violent protest campaign in July 2022 that it would set the Parliament ablaze, the former parliamentarian lashed out at the JVP-led administration for using the police excessively to curb political opposition. Ranawaka said this while addressing the media at the former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Flower Road Office .
Commenting on the protest campaign launched by the Maha Sangha, demanding presidential pardon for General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) Ven. Galagotaatte Gnanasara, the ex-Colombo District lawmaker alleged that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake used a combination of police, investigative units and JVP cadres to break up the monks’ protest. The government went to the extent of compelling the JVP/NPP-run Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) to deprive the peaceful protesters of basic toilet facilities, he alleged.
The government’s actions proved that only those with prior approval from JVP Pelawatte headquarters could launch protests in Colombo, its suburbs or in the provinces. The police have become a political tool in the hands of the JVP, the ex-Minister said. (SF)
By SK Samaranayake
Six people were killed and seven others injured when a speeding bulker lorry carrying cement and concrete ploughed into several vehicles and a shop on the Kandy-Jaffna A9 road at Kurugoda, Akurana, yesterday (19).
Four of the victims, two women and two men, died on the spot in the accident which occurred around 10.30 am, according to Alawathugoda Police.
Police said the bulker, travelling at high speed from the Matale direction, collided with three three-wheelers, two motorcycles and two lorries before veering off the road and crashing into a commercial establishment.
Five of the injured were rushed to the National Hospital of Kandy, where hospital sources said two remained in critical condition.
The bodies of the four victims were placed at the Akurana Hospital, where two others, who suffered minor injuries, were also receiving treatment.
The driver of the bulker was arrested by the Alawathugoda Police Traffic Division and is to be produced before court.
Investigations are being conducted under the supervision of Central Province Senior DIG Lalith Pathinayake.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
owledging that there had been an administrative lapse on the part of the President’s Office in 2019 when Maithripala Sirisena granted presidential pardon to Ven. Gnanasara Thera, Convener of Janathawadi Joint Opposition Prof. G.L. Peiris yesterday (19) urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to rectify whatever those shortcomings and release the General Secretary of Bodu Bala Sena.
Addressing the media at the former President Ranil Wickrekmesinghe’s Flower Road Office, Prof. Peiris emphasized that it was not fair to hold Ven. Gnanasara accountable for lapse or technical fault of others at the Presidential Secretariat during President Sirisena’s tenure.
Prof. Peiris was flanked by UNP Chairman Wajira Abeywardena and United Republican Front (URF) leader Patali Champika Ranawaka.
The fresh appeal was made on behalf of Ven. Gnanasara in the wake of President Dissanayake and JVP heavyweight Anura Kumara Dissanayake ruling out fresh presidential pardon for the monk. Minister Lal Kantha declared that the government couldn’t under any circumstances meet the continuing monks’ protest demanding Ven. Gnanasara’s release. President Dissanayake dismissed repeated appeals for Ven. Gnanasara’s release when he addressed the NPP really in Badulla.
Sirisena granted presidential pardon in May 2019 even before he completed a year of his six-year term of rigorous imprisonment for contempt of court during proceedings of the media personality Prageeth Ekneligoda’s 2010 January disappearance in the Homagama Magistrate’s court.
At the onset of the regular weekly briefing, Prof. Peiris said that he would report to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) today (20) morning as requested by the commission. “The CIABOC wanted to record my statement regarding a meeting I chaired at the ministry after the conclusion of the war in 2009 pertaining to an ongoing investigation.”
Commenting further on the imprisonment of Ven. Gnanasara, the former parliamentarian said that President Sirisena intervened following a spate of requests made on behalf of BBS General Secretary by the Mahanayakes, Anunayakes and other Maha Sangha.
The Supreme Court on 10 September, 2026 rescinded the presidential pardon granted in late May 2019.
Heavy showers about 100 mm are likely at some places in the Northern, North-central, Central, Eastern, North-western and Uva provinces
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