Head of the Araliya Rice Company, Dudley Sirisena, has called for a media briefing yesterday (27) at the Hilton Colombo Residencies to disclose facts behind increasing prices of rice in the open market. In this press briefing he said, that the main reason for the increase in the price of rice is because Minister of Rural Economic Affairs P. Harrison is not releasing the stocks of paddy in Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) following tender procedure in a proper manner. Instead he released paddy stocks to his friends and the friends of other politicians ignoring the direction given by the President and the Prime Minister to release PMB rice stocks to the open market to control increasing price of rice .
He further said , rice millers have stocks of Samba and Keeri Samba sufficient up to April 2017. “Nadu paddy, of which there is a shortage in the country, was not issued to us. I was not given even one seed of Nadu paddy.
He added that the Paddy Marketing Board purchases a kilo of paddy at
Rs 43.65. That is sold to Rice Mill owners at Rs 50. Then, apart from the other costs of producing a kilo of paddy, a sum of Rs 80 has been spent on paddy only.
Sirisena added that, if the stocks of paddy in the possession of the government had been issued to rice mill owners, to be converted into rice, under a proper system, such problems would not have arisen, he concluded.
