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Paddy storage: Farmers complain but PMB says all going well
View(s):In the ongoing paddy-purchasing crisis, farmers complain they are still finding it difficult to get their stocks cleared, although the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) said efforts have been stepped up to purchase the stocks. PMB chairman M.B. Dissanayake said the target was to purchase 120,000 metric tonnes of paddy from the Yala harvest and so far they had succeeded in buying 86,000 metric tonnes.
He said stocks were being cleared at purchasing centres in Ampara, Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Hambantota, Killinochchi, Kurunegala, Matale, Moneragala, Mullaitivu, Polonnaruwa, Puttalam, Ratnapura, Trincomalee and Vavuniya.
Farmers were being paid at branches of the Bank of Ceylon and People’s Bank, he said, adding that this was the biggest allocation of money made for a single season in the country’s history.
Mr. Dissanayake said this was in contrast to the emergency measures taken by the previous government to purchase paddy from farmers at a bare minimum by making partial allocations of about Rs. 30 to 40 million from time to time.
The PMB’s target is to purchase, 20,000 metric tonnes of paddy from Anuradhapura, 22,000 from Polonnaruwa, and 25,000 from Ampara.
“In Hambantota District the progress of purchasing paddy was at eleven per cent while in Polonnaruwa it was around six per cent, he said.“We have never turned back any farmers saying that we do not have enough storage facilities. The storage facilities of the Co-operative Department, Food Department and several stores of the army are being utilised to store the paddy,
“We are also aware that those who have lost out by exploiting farmers and buying the harvest at a lesser price, than what the Government is buying at, are planning to scuttle our plans of purchasing paddy from the farmers,” Mr. Dissanayake said.
Commenting on the ongoing purchasing activities countrywide, he said that since so far less than 50 percent of the allocated funds have been spent so far there should be no hindrance in completing the operation successfully.Mr. Dissanayake said in areas such as Nuwaragala Division, coming under the Mahaweli B Zone where farmers have few facilities to store paddy the PMB has dispatched lorries to buy stocks directly for the farmers.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe informed Parliament that a National Agricultural Authority with full powers would be established to purchase paddy. Commenting on the progress of paddy purchasing in Vavuniya district, District Director of Agriculture Lalithakumary Printhaswaran said Two metric tonnes have been purchased from each farmer.
She said, only 5,000 metric tonnes could be stored in the stores in Vepankulam, Omanthai, Nedunkerny and Mamadu and areas of Vavuniya. Ms. Printhaswaran said the Vavuniya paddy store on Palk Road that was currently being used by the STF can store 3,000 metric tonnes of paddy. “We have requested STF to vacate the store,” she said.
Polonnaruwa District secretary S. Senanayake commenting on news reports that 11,000 metric tonnes of paddy had been destroyed by weevils, said, “ What we said was this paddy may get destroyed in future and would be soon unfit for human consumption but the media reported that 11,000 metric tonnes of paddy had been destroyed by weevils”.
“Disciplinary action will be taken against the official who gave out this false information,” he said adding that ants had attacked the paddy not weevil. However, the All Ceylon Farmers’ Association has warned it would launch the first public protest against the Government for failing to implement an effective plan to purchase paddy at the promised price.
Farmers’ Association national organiser Namal Karunaratna said, “We would be compelled to launch a campaign if the government failed to reconcile the issues affecting the paddy purchasing plan.”He said huge amounts of paddy had to be destroyed in Polonnaruwa due to pests, but Government officials deny this claim.
Meanwhile Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) Chairman R.M.K Ratnayaka said one of the problems the government faced when co-operatives bought rice directly from the farmers they say the rice is spoilt and the government is expected to pay for it. He said although the private sector bought the same rice they never had complaints.
“We have an excess amount of paddy that should be exported even at a loss to African countries.” He said the extra stock could also be used for animal feed but there was the danger of it appearing in the market for human consumption.
 Who blocked road to airport?Some residents and employees of the Mattala airport staged a protest against the Government’s decision to use a part of the MRIS to store paddy, our correspondent reported. They tried to block the road to the airport as the first lorry carrying stocks drove into the premises, early this week. The first lorry entered the premises despite the obstacles but the protestors blocked two more lorries that followed.Police had intervened and managed to disperse the protestors.Mr. Dissanayake said the decision would be beneficial to farmers in Hambantota and Moneragala and it appeared that a group was trying to gain political mileage through then protests. | |
| Questions hover over storing paddy at MRIA By Anushiya Sathisraja An unutlilsed terminal of the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) in Mattala will be used for three months to store surplus of the Yala paddy harvest, a senior official, Airport and Aviation Services Srilanka Limited (AASL) said. AASL Chairman Ananda Wimalasena said this cargo terminal was quite a distance from the main terminal of the airport. He also said it was not essential to get prior approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) before this decision was taken. “Until we dispose of the paddy stock we we will use the airport stores and will hand it over back to AASL and SriLankan Airlines,” he said, The airport warehouse could store 5,000 metric tonnes of paddy, he said. Mr. Dissanayake said MRIA had requested, in the agreement, that a monthly rental of Rs. 800, 000 be paid for the use of the stores. Mr. Dissanayake said they had also got consent from the Sri Lanka Customs before the final agreement was signed. |