Conflict between vegetable traders and Government likely to erupt again

By Chamitha Kuruppu

The conflict between vegetable traders and the Government is likely to explode once again with the latter’s failure to announce a concrete solution to solve the disagreement over the use of plastic crates, traders said. 

Vegetable traders complain that although the Government has announced the reintroduction of the controversial law which makes use of plastic crates compulsory when transporting vegetables from 15 January, it has so far failed to attend to the matter in a proper way or reach an agreeable solution.

The law that was introduced on 11 December had to be postponed by a month when traders protested for days over the use of plastic crates. Following a discussion between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and vegetable traders, the President announced a month’s grace period to implement the new law.

It was also agreed that the law would be amended and certain vegetables would be removed from the original regulations. However, the Government is yet to issue the amended gazette or announce the vegetables for which the use of plastic crates when are compulsory.

Meanwhile, Minister of Agrarian Services S.M. Chandrasekera told the Daily FT that although his Ministry had taken measures to facilitate and assist the farmers in this regard, he would not force or pressure them to use plastic crates.

“We will educate the farmers about the importance of implementing the law. But we will not force them to use plastic crates,” the Minister said.

According to Chandrasekera, the Ministry will provide plastic crates to the agrarian services associations and the farmers will be able to hire or purchase the crates at a concessionary rate from such associations.

“Use of plastic crates is compulsory for certain vegetables. We are hoping to meet agrarian services officials in the areas where those vegetables are cultivated mostly and reach a solution. We are unable to describe in detail how we will carry out this until those discussions are over. But we have decided to provide the crates at a concessionary rate,” pointed out the Minister. The discussions will be held from 5 to 7 January in Colombo.

Meanwhile, traders fear that vegetable prices will be further increased even after the law is amended due to additional transportation costs inured when transporting the empty crates after vegetables are unloaded.