The Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe - Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development
The Minister provided figures on financial co-operative societies, stating that 4,981 are operating under Provincial Councils and line ministries, including 1,244 in the Western Province. He confirmed that the Maharagama Co-operative Rural Bank is under the Western Provincial Co-operative Development Commissioner and said depositors have faced withdrawal difficulties due to a financial crisis, with inquiries underway under the relevant Western Provincial statute and by the FCID. He outlined remedial steps including appointing departmental officers to the Board, taking legal action to recover loans, approving the disposal of 12 properties, arranging sales of two lands, and releasing Rs. 100 million to depositors, including full payment of accounts below Rs. 5,000 and 10 per cent payments to others as at 31 August 2024.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the answer is as follows:
¶ 02 (a) (i) At present, the number of co-operative societies under Provincial Councils engaged in financial activities is 4,949; the number of co-operative societies under central government (line ministries) engaged in financial activities is 32. Accordingly, the total number is 4,981, distributed as: Northern 51, Eastern 75, Southern 1,137, Western 1,244, Central 511, North Central 142, Uva 502, Sabaragamuwa 598, North Western 689. (ii) Yes. The Maharagama Co-operative Rural Bank is a financial co-operative society under the Western Provincial Co-operative Development Commissioner. (iii) Due to a financial crisis, depositors have not been able to withdraw deposits. An inquiry is underway under the Western Provincial Co-operative Societies Statute and also by the Financial Crimes Investigation Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department. (iv) Yes. To ensure proper management of the society, three departmental officers have been appointed to the present Board; from among them, the Chair and Vice Chair have been named. Regarding the financial crisis of the society, two inquiries are underway under Section 47(2) of the Co-operative Societies Statute No. 03 of 1998 as amended by Statute No. 04 of 2011 of the Western Provincial Council, and an investigation is being conducted by the FCID as well. Legal action has been taken to recover all loans. Based on General Meeting decisions dated 02.09.2023 and 06.07.2024, approval has been granted under Section 33(2)(b) of the aforesaid Statute to dispose of 12 properties of the society. Valuation reports have been called from the Government Valuation Department; valuations for 4 lands have been received, and 2 of those lands have been arranged for sale at Rs. 88,257,375. Including recovered loan proceeds, Rs. 100 million has been released to depositors as follows: - Paid in full all deposit accounts below Rs. 5,000. - As at 31.08.2024, paid 10% of the outstanding balance to remaining depositors.
¶ 03 (b) Does not arise.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 7 January 2025 ·No. 1736487038022510 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe - Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 7 January 2025. No. 1736487038022510. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/15905