The Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, the Hon. D.V. Chanaka raised questions and mentioned my name. Let me clarify so the public is not misled.

¶ 02 On red raw rice: before the Presidential Election, your supported candidate’s Government distributed rice. Southern red rice was bought at Rs. 20 above market and distributed even to areas that do not consume red rice, distorting the market. Supply issues arose. We intervened: Cabinet approved importing 70,000 MT via Sathosa and the STC. Sathosa called four tenders: the first was rejected; the second had no bids; the third failed quality; the fourth is under consideration now. Do not peddle lies.

¶ 03 Sathosa’s tender is for about 5,200 MT. Under an STC tender, rice has already arrived; the next consignment lands tomorrow. Also, after opening the market on 20 December, about 66,000 MT arrived. You cited Rs. 1.25 billion or some figure as excess—please table the report you rely on. As for prices, yesterday’s tender prices were roughly Rs. 207 per kilo for kakulu and Rs. 213 for nadu. We distribute through Sathosa and cooperatives. If Census and Statistics is circulating wrong data, we will act. As of 6th, we had imported 116,000 MT; another 7,000 MT arrived today. Sathosa outlets sell imported rice at Rs. 220 per kilo.