• Will break rice monopoly, ensure fair price: Aluthgamage

• Small-Medium rice millers and farmers up in arms

• Claim ploy to benefit large scale millers

• Large scale millers welcome move 

BY Buddhika Samaraweera and Dinitha Rathnayake    The documents required for the importation of 100,000 metric tonnes (MT) of rice are currently being prepared through the Trade Ministry and the Ministry hopes to import the said stock of rice as soon as possible, The Morning learnt. When contacted by The Morning to inquire about this, the Trade Ministry Secretary Bhadranie Jayawardhana said that the Trade Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardana had instructed to import a certain quantity of rice and to store it as an additional stock as a solution to the artificial increase in the prices of rice in the market. “Accordingly, steps will be taken to import the stock of rice after studying the types of rice that are most suitable for import and their prices. The necessary documents are being prepared in that regard,” she added, and noted that the Trade Ministry hopes to import the said stock of rice as soon as possible in accordance with the due process of procurement. Meanwhile, in response to a question raised by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Opposition Parliamentarian Thushara Indunil Amarasena regarding the plans to import rice in the Parliament yesterday (22), Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said that if the monopoly of rice mill owners is to be broken, it will be essential to import rice temporarily. He also said that by importing rice in that manner, rice could be provided to the consumers at a fair price. “Last season, the Government bought rice and we took steps to control the price to a certain extent. But at present, the mill owners are making huge profits by hiding stocks of rice and paddy. A mill owner earns a profit of between Rs. 20 and Rs. 30 per kilo of rice,” he noted. Speaking further, Aluthgamage explained that at present, the prices of rice in the market are very high and that in order to control it, rice has to be imported temporarily. He also said that the paddy purchased by the Paddy Marketing Board within the last two months had been distributed to cooperative shops, private supermarkets and Sathosa outlets throughout the Island. Cabinet Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said yesterday: “This is not something we are doing with much willingness, but we thought to import 100,000 MTs of Samba rice as a measure to ease the pressure on the people.” However, the United Rice Producers’ Association (URPA) alleged that the importation of 100,000 MTs of rice is not to control the rice mafia but an attempt by the Government to entertain large scale mill owners. Speaking to The Morning, URPA President Muditha Perera said that importing rice would only affect the small and medium scale rice mill owners and thereby the middle and low income earning groups and not the large scale mill owners and the financial upper classes. “The Government is only concerned about reducing the current prices of rice. At present, there is no shortage of rice or paddy harvest. The current supply is sufficient according to the demand and the rice storage we have is enough for this year’s consumption. The average Sri Lankan consumes around 300 grams of rice daily and most of the economic upper classes’ rice consumption is fully maintained by the large scale mill owners whereas the small and medium scale rice mill owners provide rice for the middle income and low income earning groups. Therefore, this importation of Ponni Samba would only affect small and medium scale rice mill owners since the medium and low income groups are the only ones who consume this type of rice.”  The All Ceylon Farmers Federation (ACFF) also raised their concerns about the importation of rice. Speaking to The Morning, the ACFF Head Namal Karunaratne said that it is not the suitable time to import rice since the harvesting period has just arrived. “There is sufficient rice storage for this year and the paddy harvesting has already started in the North and East. Polonnaruwa farmers will start their harvest in two weeks. This rice importation would only lead to the decrease of the prices of raw rice which will in turn lead to large scale mill owners profiting and farmers struggling. If they want to control the rice mafia, there should be a proper management system. Why didn’t the Government import rice before the paddy harvest season?” Karunaratne noted. However, large scale rice mill owners expressed satisfaction with the Government’s decision. Speaking to The Morning, a large scale mill owner who preferred to remain anonymous said that this importation would control the prices of raw rice, where at present, the selling price of one kilo starts at Rs. 86. “The prices of raw rice also went up due to the current situation whereas it was around Rs. 56 per kilo earlier. But this importation would control the prices of raw and processed rice at the same time, since this is the harvest season,” he claimed.