The Hon. Susantha Kumara Nawarathna

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, the COPE Chair, Hon. Nishantha Samaraweera, has moved this Adjournment on the NGJA and on the 2014 dairy cattle import fraud findings. The Opposition, however, diverts to the Israel–Iran war which had time allocated yesterday. Let us focus on today’s agenda.

¶ 02 Historically, Sri Lanka was self-sufficient in milk; this eroded after 1977. Annual demand is about 801 million litres, while production is roughly 380 million litres; about 494 million litres are imported at a cost exceeding Rs. 70 billion annually. The 2014 cattle import project aimed to raise production: 2,000 and 2,500 cattle were imported in the first two phases; Phase III planned 20,000 more—2,500 (2017), 2,500 (2018), 7,500 (2019), 5,000 (2020)—but crucially, it was done outside proper procurement. An older tender process was cited to justify engaging the same firm again. An advance exceeding Rs. 1.74 billion was paid to Wellard Rural Exports (Pvt) Ltd., yet no cattle arrived; accountability for the advance remains unclear.

¶ 03 Further, many imported cattle from Australia in prior phases died due to Bovine Viral Diarrhoea and Fasciola hepatica. Politically connected individuals benefited from subsidized cattle intended for farmers. This squandered public funds and undermined the sector. COPE has now examined these matters and reported to Parliament; we must now debate and act upon its recommendations.

¶ 04 I thank the COPE Chair and members for their work and urge firm legal action against all responsible.