The Hon. Chamara Sampath Dasanayake
Chamara Sampath Dasanayake urged the Minister not to close the Pelwatte and Sevanagala sugar factories, noting that Sri Lanka has few sugar factories remaining after closures such as Kantale. He proposed imposing VAT on imported white sugar while removing VAT on locally produced brown sugar, arguing that this would help resolve the problems facing the domestic sugar industry.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Minister, even giving ethanol at Rs. 1,200 per litre is fine. Do not close the two sugar factories. We have so few sugar factories left. Kantale was closed; many were closed. The country has only a few left. We tell you this: there is a big problem at Pelwatte and Sevanagala sugar factories. If possible, impose VAT on imported white sugar. Hon. Minister, I told you this even when you were in the Opposition. You are a capable Minister. On the day you took over the Industries Ministry, you told me, “Chamara, I have no issue; I can bring a Cabinet Paper anytime.” So, as you imposed VAT on imported sugar, remove VAT on brown sugar. Let the Government remove VAT on brown sugar. Then this problem will end.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Friday, 6 June 2025 ·No. 1750753418078417 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Chamara Sampath Dasanayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 6 June 2025. No. 1750753418078417. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/28332