SJB Parliamentarian Hesha Withanage told Parliament today that former Minister Shashindra Rajapaksa was behind the importation of an unsuitable stock of organic fertiliser from China,
He said that the country suffered a loss of nearly 6.9 million US dollars amid a ban imposed on chemical fertilizers.
He queried that it was not the government’s responsibility to take action against those responsible for causing losses to the country and whether the present government was reluctant to take action against former minister Rajapaksa because of the fear of taking action against members of the Rajapaksa clan.
Member Withanage made this accusation during the parliamentary debate on a question raised by Member of Parliament Ven. Athuraliye Ratana Thero about the use of organic fertilizers.
Answering the question about organic fertiliser and other accusations, the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Mahinda Amaraweera, said that a committee headed by the Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture has been appointed to take action for the recovery of the amount of 6.9 million dollars paid for the rejected Chinese fertiliser ship or the next steps to be taken in this regard. He further said that the Attorney General has advised the government on further steps to be taken in this regard.
However, he said that the ministry acted on its own advice to either retrieve the 6.9 million dollars paid for this fertiliser or to import chemical fertiliser instead. However, those efforts have not been successful so far.
