The Hon. Thurairasa Ravikaran

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, before commenting on the regulations under the Import and Export (Control) Act taken up today, I wish to make a brief but important tribute. It has been 18 years since the passing of our Eelam liberation struggle’s battlefield commander, Brigadier Balraj (Kandiah Balasegaram) from Kokkilai–Kokkuthoduvai in Mullaitivu. He was a commander whose battlefield acumen astonished military scholars worldwide. I bow my head in this august House to convey my respects.

¶ 02 I next wish to raise an issue of deforestation. In front of the Vavuniya University area, more than 40 acres have reportedly been cleared, with concrete posts ready for fencing. The alleged clearance site is located within roughly two kilometres of the Divisional Forest Office, and there is deep public suspicion that this is occurring with official connivance. We have evidence of this destruction. I urge the Government to act immediately.

¶ 03 Turning to today’s business: the Deputy Minister has brought nine resolutions—three key regulations under the Import and Export (Control) Act and others under the Appropriation Act. I stand for the Vanni to place certain realities before the Government.

¶ 04 By Extraordinary Gazette No. 2482/12 dated 2 April 2026, the requirement for import control licences was temporarily lifted for several rice varieties—Ponni Samba, Palponni Samba and others (code 07811)—to address a reported shortage of Samba and Kiri Samba rice domestically, allowing each importer up to 1,040 metric tons to be cleared by 31 May.

¶ 05 However, Government data indicate that 185,000 metric tons of paddy are lying in Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) stores—paddy purchased continuously over the past three seasons that has not been properly milled and marketed. How much of that stock is Samba or Kiri Samba? The Minister should disclose this to the House.

¶ 06 On the one hand, over 100,000 metric tons of paddy sit idle in state stores; on the other, the Government has rushed to relax imports of Ponni Samba and Palponni Samba citing a shortage. What kind of economic policy is this? When three seasons’ stocks remain, why can they not be milled and distributed in a timely manner?

¶ 07 Because of the Government’s sluggishness and administrative decline, the quality of our local paddy output is deteriorating and being wasted, causing losses of hundreds of millions. Who will be accountable? This is the people’s tax money.

¶ 08 In the ongoing Yala (minor) season, in the Kumuzhamunai Agrarian Service area in Mullaitivu, 3,492.9 acres have been cultivated; 1,325.625 acres are under Kiri Samba. Nearly 13 percent of Mullaitivu’s paddy area has been harvested or is close to harvest, with less than a month remaining in many places. Will the PMB procure these harvests promptly at a fair price? Will the Agriculture Ministry give higher priority to local procurement over import relaxations, and ensure swift market release of milled rice?

¶ 09 Last season, although 2,500 metric tons were targeted for procurement from Mullaitivu, due to full stores and delays in clearing space, only 2,195.82 metric tons were procured; in Vavuniya, only 1,444.76 metric tons were procured, as informed by PMB on 12 March 2026 at the Vavuniya District Secretariat. The urgency we do not see in store management and marketing is being shown now in rice imports.