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Sathosa
does not maintain uniform prices at its outlets A Sunday Times
FT study last week of prices of a selection of essential food items
like vegetables, rice and fish found that this state-owned retailer
doesn't even stick to its own published prices. The survey
also revealed that Sathosa prices were even higher in some cases
than other supermarket chains while not conforming to a standard
price structure within its own chain of supermarkets. “Sathosa
and the Commerce Minister Ravi Karunanayake claims to have brought
down the rising cost of living but that is not reflected in the
prices at the Sathosa outlets,” said an angry Colombo housewife.
Sathosa prices
are higher for chicken, brinjal, tomato and cabbage than other places.
Sathosa supermarkets at Union Place, Rajagiriya and Jawatte Road
in Colombo also have different prices for the same products, confusing
consumers, compared to other private supermarket chains which have
a standard pricing mechanism. CWE's Additional
General Manager (Retail Marketing) Wimal Jayasekera told the Sunday
Times FT that Sathosa buys most of its essential items such as fruits,
vegetables and other home needs from a range of suppliers which
results in price disparities. Conceding that
some of the vegetables, fruits and meat prices were higher than
other private outlets, Jayasekera said they were trying their best
to supply products at a cheaper price since it is a government institution. Sathosa has
outsourced some space in its supermarkets to private parties and
thus the prices at these outlets are beyond their control and uniform
prices cannot be maintained, he added. Supermarket
chains like Cargills Food City and Keells maintain one pricing structure
at their outlets. A Cargills
Food City spokesman said their entire system is computerised and
standard prices are maintained. “For instance the price of
beans at a Colombo outlet and outside Colombo would be the same.” He also said
that most of their essential items were relatively cheaper and higher
in quality than other supermarkets. A Keells supermarket spoke-sman
said their prices also doesn't differ from outlet to outlet unlike
Sathosa. The price survey was carried out at Sathosa outlets and
Cargills on January 7 and Keells on January 10. Meanwhile, while the cost of living soars, the cabinet last week decided to reduce taxes on betting shops and casinos. A
Czech (in) sarong! Since arriving
last October, the girls in the office presented him with a sarong
for Christmas, "so, I decided to try it out." "The sarong
is comfortable and different, I just had to wear it and see how
it felt," he adds. "I told my colleagues to join me in
wearing the sarong but, they seemed a bit reluctant," says
Sprongl. He had seen
a Czech actor in Prague wearing sarong and was completely intrigued
by it and thought he must try it out sometime, and now he has. "I'm so
fond of the sarong that I think I'll go back and wear it at home
during summer," he says, quite seriously. The sarong-clad Czech believes it's not the 'done' thing here to wear sarong to work cos' "I've been getting some really strange looks whenever I am in public area."The only problem though, is when it comes to driving and walking as it requires some practice for such activity. This being his first visit to Asia, Sprongl's very impressed with what the country has to offer. SLT
declares 3% interim dividend, applies for tariff hike The company,
which is set to face increased competition with the loss of its
monopoly on international calls, announced a net profit of Rs 2.4
billion for the first nine months of the year, up 38 percent from
the same period the year before. SLT Chairman
Thilanga Sumathipala attributed the results to increased revenue
that followed previous tariff hikes under its tariff rebalancing
act, and more business in fixed lines and new economy services such
as data communication. The increased
volume of international calls had helped cushion the reduction in
rates on overseas calls. "When
we started last year we had 21 million per month in international
calls to Sri Lanka," he said. "By November this had increased
to 28 million minutes per month, or by over seven million minutes
per month, at an average of US cents 20 a minute." SLT expects
international traffic to have increased to around 30 million minutes
in December. SLT officials
said the company was also taking strong action to prevent so-called
"gray traffic" that bypasses the legal gateway and deprives
SLT of revenue. Some 1,700 lines bringing in "gray traffic"
had been disconnected in the last seven months Sumathipala
also said a better focus on customers and enhanced operational efficiency
that improved productivity also helped improve the bottom line. Sumathipala
said he was confident SLT will continue to do well in the face of
the competition that is expected as more operators enter the field
following liberalization of the telecommunications sector. Asked if another
tariff hike was on the cards, Sumathipala said SLT had applied to
the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority for an overall increase
of 15 percent in its charges. The fifth tariff rebalancing option was due under a 1997 government commitment that allows SLT five tariff re-balancing options, he said. SEC
investigations come to a standstill Market sources
said the SEC secretariat had halted its investigations because of
the uncertainty caused by the apparent preferential treatment accorded
to Mack by allowing him a 'second opinion' about the Attorney General's
Department's advice that there was a prima facie case against the
accused. SEC investigators
are not proceeding with other inquiries because they are not sure
whether the accused in future cases would demand a 'second opinion',
sources said. Legal sources
have described as "unprecedented" the market watchdog's
decision to seek a second opinion on the advice of the AG's Department
in the probe, which covers the sale of Aitken Spence shares in May
and June this year by the three former directors of the company
and their relatives. This second opinion, given by a two-member panel which reviewed the SEC's investigation, has now been referred back to the AG's Department. WB’s
Mieko in town The senior
WB official, who oversees Sri Lanka among other countries, is expected
to meet Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Finance Minister K.N.
Choksy and other officials. Her visit, though planned earlier, comes
in the wake of a decision at last week's peace talks by the Sri
Lankan government and Tamil rebel negotiators for the bank to act
as custodian of donor funds to rebuild the northeast. Nishimizu is also visiting Hambantota for meetings with officials, women's groups and civil society. In Jaffna, she is scheduled to meet officials and civil society before visiting some developments projects in the Kilinochchi district. Mega
bucks from chilled soft drinks, beer Hotels, restaurants,
and nightclubs have been found to be selling soft drinks worth Rs.
15 at mind-boggling prices ranging from Rs. 60 to 450, with mark
ups close to an astonishing 2,900 percent. The Commissioner
of Internal Trade, Janaka Sugathadasa, said that raids were being
carried out islandwide to arrest retailers selling soft drinks above
the marked price, but admitted that no action had been taken to
crack down on up-market service outlets. Hotels, restaurants and
pubs have dubbed themselves as service providers and not retailers,
in order to be exempt from the consumer protection law, he said. The argument
had no legal basis, but was still a sensitive issue, which would
be referred to the Attorney General shortly, for a clarification. This issue
has created a fresh debate on the correct definition of a retailer
and a service provider, especially since roadside restaurants with
basic facilities could also claim to be service providers. The Consumer
Protection Act No. 1 of 1979 states that "Every manufacturer
of or trader in aerated their
agents shall where they have separate chilled and unchilled prices,
mark on or label the container of such aerated water with both the
chilled and unchilled prices." Galadari Hotel
Managing Director Chandra Mohotti said that it was impossible for
the hotel to meet its overhead expenditure, unless it charged higher
prices for its beverages. Asked about the legal provision in the
Consumer Protection Act, Mohotti said, "Five-star hotels do
not offer consumer protection, and it's not only in Sri Lanka, but
it happens the world over." Unlike the
retailer who sells soft drinks over the counter, five-star hotels
were bound to provide it on a silver platter, which obviously comes
with a special price, he said. Five-star hotels
mainly cater to foreign tourists and investors who were prepared
to pay for the services provided by the hotel, he added. Asked why the
same hotel charged a different price for its soft drinks in its
nightclub, Mohotti said that outlets that provided entertainment
and additional comforts were usually prone to charge exorbitant
amounts, mainly due to their heavy maintenance costs. Chairman of
the Fair Trading Commission, Professor A.V.S. Indraratne, said that
the new Consumer Affairs Authority Bill, which repeals the Consumer
Protection Act No. 1 of 1979, will take effect in two months, and
that there would be no change to the provision on aerated water Asked why the
bill did not attempt to bring service providers under the law, Prof.
Indraratne said that prices charged by hotels, restaurants and pubs
were beyond its control. "Consumer
protection is there to safeguard the average consumer. Those who
can afford to patronise hotels and clubs are exclusive consumers,
and the law doesn't worry about them," he said. When quizzed
as to whether it meant that the average consumers were not expected
to visit hotels or clubs, Prof. Indraratne had no reply. He admitted
that there was no legal provision to govern the prices of service
outlets and also said that no measures had even been considered
to bring about a standard price structure to control their discretion. An official
from another five-star hotel was unaware of the consumer protection
clause on soft drinks and said that it was the industry practice
to cover overhead expenditure by charging higher prices on soft
drinks. He said most
five-star hotels maintained uniform prices for its soft drinks in
order to be socially responsible. However, Chandra
Mohotti denied that claim, saying that prices deferred according
to each hotel's cost structure. Corporate lawyer
Dr. Harsha Cabral said the consumer protection law was not enforced
properly because Sri Lanka lacked powerful consumer societies to
raise such issues and consumer behaviour was extremely weak. Asked whether the law stipulated that aerated water obtained from machines and sold in plastic cups should also be price marked, Dr. Cabral said that the law hadn't envisaged such a situation when drafted in 1990, which meant that the manufacturer should also price mark the cups that are being sold. No
drought this year: high paddy crop forecast He said that
until April, the weather would be dry and the southwest monsoon
would move in by May. Meanwhile the
Department of Agriculture said that due to favourable weather conditions
in the 2002 Yala season and with the current developments in the
peace process, crop estimates have shown a considerable increase. Agriculture
Director Kamal Mankotte confirmed that the expected paddy yield
for the year would be the highest in 15 years. A maximum of 1.92
million metric tonnes is expected from the 2002/2003 Maha season
alone, which will meet the country's rice consumption needs for
seven months. Potato cultivation
has also been on the rise after the government imposed tariff barriers.
The total potato yield expected in the Maha season is 49,916 metric
tonnes. Mankotte said
that agricultural production was likely to improve in comparison
to last year, due to increased cultivation in the north and east.
He said that a total of 1,300 hectares of land in these areas had
been used for paddy cultivation, since the government cease-fire
in December 2001. Mankotte also added that the statistics of the Department of Agriculture could only now be considered as accurate, due to the difficulties in obtaining statistics of produce from the north and east.
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