The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law
Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara challenged the Minister’s claim on rice availability at maximum retail prices, saying many retail shops were not selling at those prices and citing uneven distribution of red Kakulu rice to co-operatives in Matara that caused queues and market distortions. He also questioned the Ministry’s handling of co-operatives, alleging that after Opposition victories in co-operative elections, Governors were appointing additional members under Section 60(a), and asked whether corrective action would be taken.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Minister, with respect, that is not the ground reality. Retail shops do not have rice at those MRPs; many say they cannot sell at that price and therefore refrain from selling. As an example, the red Kakulu rice you issued was provided to the Akurassa co-operative in Matara—your stronghold—while other co-ops did not receive it, leading to long queues as people came from other areas. If this is your method, continue, but it creates distortions. You also promised to remove the “mafia” in 24 hours.
¶ 02 My second supplementary relates to co-operatives, which are under your Ministry. After we in the Opposition won several co-operative elections, Governors are being used to appoint additional members under Section 60(a), such as in Bingiriya where nine Opposition-elected members were supplemented by four appointees. This is improper. Will you take corrective action?
Provenance
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- Hansard, Thursday, 6 February 2025 ·No. 1739271735020022 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 6 February 2025. No. 1739271735020022. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/671