Paddy before polls: Mahinda Amaraweera tells Government

• Says paddy purchasing must be prioritised and polls can be held later
• Claims paddy purchasing has been irregular due to lack of funds despite formulating a program
• Accuses Opposition of pushing for polls while public is calling for relief instead

Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has issued a special statement requesting the Government and the Ministry of Finance to provide the necessary funds for paddy purchasing before spending precious funds on elections scheduled to be held in March. The Minister said elections can be held at a later date after the purchase of the Maha season paddy harvest from hard-hit farmers in the country who can be given a fair price and protected if the harvest is purchased by the Government.

The Minister said that though a special program is in place to purchase paddy for this season, obtaining funding for the purchase of paddy has become a major problem.

 “Although we promised the farmers that produce is purchased by the Government, it could not be done properly due to financial difficulties. It was hindered due to the rejections of banks issuing money for this purpose,” he said.

“We have already informed the relevant officers of the Finance Ministry of the Central Bank to take steps to make the necessary provisions. As soon as this money is received, the Agriculture Ministry is ready to purchase paddy by setting a fair price to the farmers,” he added.

Noting that the Government is set to spend Rs. 10 billion on elections that has now been called by the Election Commission of Sri Lanka, the Minister said it would be more prudent to spend the funds on purchasing paddy instead of on an election. He said the polls can be “postponed for a few days or even months”.

Amaraweera said that 800,000 hectares of paddy were cultivated in this Maha season and 512,000 hectares of paddy were cultivated in the last Yala season. According to him, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has also instructed for paddy to be purchased from farmers without any hindrance.

According to Amaraweera, the Opposition in Parliament is pushing for elections and the common man has not called for a vote. “Both the farmers and consumers would benefit if the Government purchased the paddy harvest on time. People are asking to reduce the cost of living and the Government’s aim is to fulfil the people’s demand. The outcome of the Local Government Election would not result in a change of Government,” he said.