This institution was established years ago with a view to providing essential goods to consumers at a fair price.  Always run by political appointees and often described as a den of corruption it was on the rocks as usual when the yahapalanaya government took office.



The new government had recently pumped several billions of rupees into the floundering institution in a bid to put it back on its feet.  Eagle-eyed trade unionists have now discovered that a certain powerful secretarial one had transferred a large part of this capital infusion to the bank account of a political stooge.

As a result, the institution is back in the red, and is short of funds even to pay for goods such as rice, coconuts, dried fish and lentils supplied by local dealers, they say.

Employees say that they are at a loss to understand why the successive administrations have made it a practice to appoint political hangers-on with dubious track records to run the state-owned enterprises!