Amidst serious difficulty in procuring the stocks of paddy required for the production of rice in Sri Lanka, the government prepares to establish five more large-scale mills with large amounts of money. The relevant cabinet approval has been granted in recent cabinet meeting sources said to Lankasara.
The Cabinet Memorandum presented by the Ministry of Trade states that the State Ministry of Cooperative Services Marketing Development and Consumer Protection plans to establish five rice mills in Anuradhapura, Kurunegala, Batticaloa, Ampara and Hambantota districts as a strategy to produce rice and sell it through the Co-operative Network.
At present, there are around 2000 rice mills in Sri Lanka, including small and medium and large scale. In addition Sathosa also owns a two successful mills. These rice millers are also facing difficulties due to the lack of sufficient stocks of paddy to produce rice. Rice mill owners have been urging the government to supply rice to existing rice mills. An expert in the field told Lankasara that the decision taken by the government at last week’s Cabinet meeting was not a solution to the problem of the rice market and that it was a mere waste of government money.
