PRECIFAC grills Johnston over massive rice deal

By Shanika Sriyananda

Former Co-operatives and Internal Trade Minister Johnston Fernando was questioned by the anti-corruption commission over the import of 60,000 metric tonnes of rice during the final months of the previous Government in 2014.

Fernando, who arrived at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into Serious Acts of Fraud and Corruption (PRECIFAC), was grilled for over seven hours by the PRECIFAC police unit over his alleged involvement in importing 60,000 metric tonnes without Cabinet approval.

The commission sources said 50,000 metric tonnes were imported in 2014 with Cabinet approval following the stipulated procedure of importing rice to Sri Lanka.

“But the rice stocks amounted to 60,000 metric tonnes had been imported without consulting the Cabinet. They were brought from India and Bangladesh and were unfit for consumption,” the PRECIFAC official said.

Fernando was questioned by a team of police investigators led by ASP Lalith Abeysekara and assisted by Chief Inspector Geethika Bodhipaksa and Inspector Anuradha.

The official told the Daily FT that the deal had incurred a huge loss to the Government. The health authorities who checked the stocks that were lying in warehouses of the Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) in several places in Colombo, including Maligawatta, had found that they were unfit for human consumption.

The PRECIFAC investigators, who had grilled several CWE officials, had earlier found that the CWE had not followed the tender procedure in importing these rice stocks and imported them through private rice importers.