The Hon. Mujibur Rahman
Mujibur Rahman questioned the Government’s handling of continuing essential food shortages, focusing on the salt shortage and asking why salt imported through the State Trading Corporation had not reached consumers at affordable prices. He alleged that imported rock salt, despite relatively low landed costs and duties, was being sold at Rs. 350–400 per kilogram due to stock control by private interests linked to Puttalam Salt Ltd. and Raigam. He urged the Consumer Affairs Authority to inspect stocks in Hambantota and Puttalam rather than only small retailers, and criticized the appointment of a private salt company owner to the board of a public salt company as a conflict of interest. He also briefly raised concern that the Auditor General’s post remained vacant.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, thank you for the opportunity in the debate to approve the Order and the Notification under the Finance Act.
¶ 02 It has been about seven months since the NPP/JVP-led Government took office. Yet shortages of essential food items persist without quick answers. Recently, rice was imported with a Rs. 65 per kg duty. Now, for six months, we have had a salt problem. The Government and the Salt Corporation knew months ago that a shortage was coming. The Chairman and officials should explain the prior decisions and why this was not averted. Instead of excuses about weather or the previous Government, we need facts.
¶ 03 Over the last six months, only the State Trading Corporation (STC) imported salt. Hon. Minister, did the Government import salt? (Interjections.) Yes, it did. Then why did that salt not reach the market?
¶ 04 Salt was imported as rock salt, and permission was granted accordingly. The Government supplied that rock salt through STC to the main salt traders who crush and pack it. Internationally, the market price is about USD 80 per metric ton from India. The Government imposes Rs. 40 per kg duty on salt. The base cost per kg is about Rs. 24; with other costs, it can still retail at Rs. 100. But in the market, a kilogram sells at Rs. 350–400. Who is buying and controlling this? An individual linked to Puttalam Salt Ltd—the Director is Dr. Ravi Liyanage, the Chairman of Raigam. He is on the Board of Puttalam Salt Ltd while Raigam sources salt from STC, packs it and sells at Rs. 350–400 per kg. This is the so-called system change?
¶ 05 The Consumer Affairs Authority should not just check petty shops in Pettah; go to Hambantota and Puttalam, and inspect stocks at Puttalam Salt Ltd. Stocks are being held to benefit private business interests—creating a salt mafia to add to the existing rice mafia. Appointing a private salt company owner to the Board of the public salt company and then channeling STC salt there to be sold back to the public at exorbitant prices is a travesty. The poor were promised relief; instead, companies are being favoured.
¶ 06 Now the Auditor General’s post is vacant. The Government said vacancies would be filled…
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Wednesday, 21 May 2025 ·No. 1749121318003248 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
- Page · column
- not yet extracted — page/column anchors are not in the current dataset; the source PDF is the citable location.
- Permalink
/lk/speeches/8104
Cite as: The Hon. Mujibur Rahman. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 21 May 2025. No. 1749121318003248. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/8104