The Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the Member asked several questions; I asked him to choose one. Regarding STC: not only STC — even at Sathosa some tried to steal garlic consignments then. We have restructured STC: a new Chairman and Board have been appointed. Through STC we have already opened four tenders for rice, bringing in consignments in batches. A 20,800 MT tender closes tomorrow. Under STC’s first tender, we brought 5,200 MT; the lowest price was under the 510 tender. The first consignment under STC’s tender arrives on the 19th. Some of your historical points are correct, but now, respecting the public mandate, we took three decisions to prevent shortages.

¶ 02 We called tenders to import 70,000 MT via Cabinet approval. From the 6th to the 20th, we relaxed import restrictions to allow private importers; we expected 25,000–35,000 MT via that route. By yesterday noon about 12,000 MT had been released from port. Local millers held about 300,000 MT but released stocks slowly to raise prices. After the President’s intervention and three rounds of talks, a decision was reached: they now release about 300 MT per day to Sathosa and have increased market releases. I can provide those details. There is indeed a shortage; thus we began purchasing from domestic millers and permitted imports until the 20th. Additionally, Cabinet approved importing 70,000 MT.