Price control on imported rice

The Government is expected to impose a price control on imported rice with the intension to avoid a rapid rice price hike, Rural Economic Affairs Minister P. Harrison revealed yesterday.

Addressing a media briefing. Harrison said that the Government has already issued tenders to obtain rice stocks from international dealers toward Sathosa and it will take two weeks to complete the total process of importing rice from those dealers.

“The Cabinet has been discussing imposing price controls to imported rice stocks immediately after they arrive in Sri Lanka. Therefore, we will able to avoid the fast price increment of rice,” he said.

Harrison also said that the Government is hoping to impose a control price for imported rice between Rs.75 to Rs. 80 per kilo including Samba and Nadu.

Citing reasons for the current price hike of rice, Harrision alleged that the majority of small-scale rice millers have failed to supply the required rice stocks to Sathosa. 

“We have issued stocks of paddy for 138 small-scale rice mills owners to polish process and deliver them to Sathosa, but only 28 millers have done so. As we learnt, others have sold them to private sector. Then the Government faced for a shortage of rice,” he said.

Responding to President MaithripalaSirisena’s brother, major rice miller Dudley Sirisena’s allegation that the minister has released paddy stocks to middlemen, Harisson said he will resign from his post if Sirisena could prove that he had done such thing.

Last week, Sirisena claimed that the reason behind the price of rice rising was due to the Rural Economic Affairs Minister not releasing paddy stocks held by the Government into the market in a systematic manner. 

He alleged that the minster had not followed the correct tender procedure and had sold the paddy to his friends and the friends of other politicians, and that they sold the paddy at exorbitant rates to the rice millers, including himself. (CG)