17 December 2024 08:12 am Views - 29
By Pushpakumara Mallawarachchi
About 60 rice mills in Marandagahamula area have ground to a halt for want of adequate stocks of paddy, much to the anxiety of the rice traders.
Marandagahamula Small and Medium Scale Rice Traders Association has warned the available stocks of rice would be exhausted in a couple of days, creating a shortage of rice.
President of the association B.K.Ranjith told the media yesterday that the government needed to intervene and resolve this issue.
“Marandagahamula rice market is not receiving stocks of Nadu, Samba and White Kekulu rice. We receive Kiri Samba and at present all stocks in about 60 rice mills have been exhausted leaving us with a meagre stock of rice that will end in a couple of days. We are running at a loss by purchasing paddy at black market prices and selling rice for the control price. This is a serious crisis which the government must resolve as a matter of priority but it is not likely. We have purchased paddy for prices between Rs. 145 and 150 a kilo and sell rice for the control price, incurring heavy losses.”
“The situation would be worse during the festive season when the little stocks available now were over. We request the government to recover the bulk stocks of paddy hidden in rice mills and issue them to the small-scale rice mills. Profiteers keeping stocks of paddy were responsible for the prevailing crisis,” he said.
He said it is understood that the imported rice is infested with weevils that the government should take steps to guarantee the quality of imported rice and that it would be much better if the government dealt with the import of rice directly.