The Hon. Namal Karunaratne - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock

¶ 01 Madam Deputy Chairperson, first I pay respects to the people of Kurunegala District for electing 12 of us and contributing to this victory, and to all the people of the country for giving the NPP an outstanding mandate.

¶ 02 Much has been discussed. I wish to address the pressing issue of paddy and rice. The Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) uses 358 warehouses; 225 are owned by the Board. When we assumed office, there was virtually no paddy in Government stores. The previous Government did not purchase even a grain in the last Yala season. What they had was earlier stock bought at Rs. 120 per kilo, on which the State incurred about Rs. 10 per kilo in handling, guarding and storage — roughly Rs. 130 per kilo total. They then sold it at Rs. 80. When this was first attempted, we exposed it; nevertheless, they went ahead. A straight loss of Rs. 50 per kilo. They sold off State stocks and bought nothing in the last Yala. Thus, when Maha began, neither the State nor farmers had cash from sales — creating today’s crisis.

¶ 03 The President personally intervened to avert this. Despite our reluctance, because of the circumstances and manipulation, we had to import rice. That process is underway; Minister Wassa Samarasinghe has explained details.

¶ 04 We are mocked as “L-board learners,” but those without L-plates earlier sold Rs. 130 rice at Rs. 80, losing Rs. 50 a kilo — that is their “experience.”

¶ 05 A 2016 special audit on Sathosa revealed that in 2014–2015, within months, imported rice caused losses to the country through fraud and malpractice, quantified at Rs. 1,515.70 million. That is the “expertise” of those ridiculing us.

¶ 06 About six months ago in Mahiyanganaya, we exposed another scam: import duty on rice was reduced from Rs. 65 to Rs. 20 while a consignment was at port, then restored after four days — a sugar-duty-style game. Media reported it. Rice was cleared at Rs. 2 duty, then Rs. 65 reinstated. Farmers’ paddy prices collapsed, but consumers did not receive lower rice prices; instead, dealers profited.

¶ 07 Under the previous President Maitripala Sirisena, paddy purchased at Rs. 50 was then condemned for animal feed and released at Rs. 24, yet not a single grain went to feed — it went to mills, milled into rice, and sold to consumers around Rs. 110. Based on milling formula, that paddy could have yielded retail rice at Rs. 48.40 per kilo. Yet it sold at Rs. 110. This is how they operated.

¶ 08 Today, PMB has suffered losses of many billions. Meanwhile, the private sector has advanced in rice production with silos and modern mills; young entrepreneurs like “WeeHena” Hemanthala are challenging large millers with technology. But Governments with “experience” could not advance State institutions even a fraction as much, nor even maintain existing warehouses.

¶ 09 Buying paddy requires moisture control below 14 percent, then drying and milling — each step has issues that prior rulers never solved, yet they excelled at stealing from paddy and rice, taking kickbacks and cuts. We admit we do not have that “skill,” and we will never acquire it. Instead, we will solve this problem properly — protecting farmers, consumers, and the value-adding middle sector. With our Minister of Agriculture Lal Kantha, Deputy Minister Susil Ranasinghe, and the Cabinet including the Ministers for Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development, guided by the President, we will implement our programme and decisively resolve this issue.