The Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe - Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Co-operative Development

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the answers are as follows:

¶ 02 (a) (i) Yes. (ii) Yes. (iii) I will summarize the details for the House. The Hon. Chaminda Wijesiri has asked what has happened regarding the case on the garlic scam and the actions taken.

¶ 03 In September 2021, two 40-foot containers of garlic were taken into custody by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. The Authority decided to hand them over to Sathosa. The stock contained 54,860 kg of garlic. It was decided to supply it to Sathosa at Rs. 110 per kg. At that time, Sathosa’s retail price for garlic was Rs. 355 per kg. This is the root of the issue. On the same day the consignment was released from the port and taken to the Welisara warehouse, officials and responsible officers together sold the entire 54,860 kg from those two containers to a supplier of Sathosa itself at around Rs. 135. Hon. Member, calculating this, Sathosa incurred a loss of approximately Rs. 12 million at that moment.

¶ 04 Investigations have been conducted. I will table the reports for Members’ reference.

¶ 05 Sathosa has conducted a preliminary inquiry and identified six persons. In addition, a case is being heard in the Magistrate’s Court of Welisara. Matters relevant to filing charges have been referred to the Attorney-General. Accordingly, upon receiving advice from the Attorney-General, further legal proceedings will continue without delay. Disciplinary action has been taken against all Sathosa officials involved. I have presented the summary; I table the remainder of the Answer.

¶ 06 [The rest of the Answer tabled.]

¶ 07 - A preliminary inquiry was conducted by a committee chaired by then Food Commissioner J. Krishnamoorthy with the Chief Accountant (Ministry of Trade) Ms. Neluka Patabendi and Assistant Secretary E.A. Ekanayake as members. (Recommendations section of the preliminary inquiry report is annexed and placed in the Library.)

¶ 08 - Following a complaint by Lanka Sathosa to the Criminal Investigation Department, the CID reported facts to the Magistrate’s Court of Welisara and a case was instituted and is being heard. During proceedings, the learned Judge indicated that indictable charges could be presented and directed the CID to obtain the Attorney-General’s opinion. The Attorney-General’s Department is currently taking steps to report facts to the High Court. Lanka Sathosa also conducted an internal preliminary inquiry on 13.09.2021. (Copy placed in the Library.)