Cabinet approves to maintain 20,000 MT of rice

COLOMBO (News 1st):- Cabinet this week approved a proposal submitted by the Minister of Mahaweli, Agriculture, Irrigation and Rural Development Chamal Rajapaksa to take measures to maintain a buffer stock of 20,000 metric tons of rice comprising Samba and Naadu varieties by obtaining the stocks of paddy purchased by the Paddy Marketing Board. At this week's cabinet media briefing, Co Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana said the decision was made to make rice available in the market when there is a shortage. However, it is of paramount importance to note that there were several instances where thousands of metric tonnes of rice unsuitable for human consumption were discovered from storage facilities. One such instance was the recent incident at the Sathosa Storage facility in Colombo. Around 10,000 kilograms of rice that could be classified as animal feed and approximately 19,739 kilograms of rice unsuitable for human consumption and animal feed were discovered on the 13th of this month. Shouldn't a state official at a ministerial-level be responsible for storing and managing these buffer stocks in a proper manner, to minimize wastage?