Govt. to probe organic fertilizer blunder during GR’s time

Colombo, December 24 (Daily Mirror) - The government will conduct fresh probes into the scams involved in the import of a stock of biofertilizer from China and in the introduction of organic farming during the time of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a minister said yesterday.

Sri Lanka purchased a shipment of organic fertilizer from China’s Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Ltd in 2021 in the midst of a crisis in the agriculture sector triggered by the ban imposed by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government on chemical farming. However, the government declined to accept the stock, citing that samples of the stock were found to be contaminated with harmful bacteria. The company disputed the allegation, and the matter led to a commercial dispute between China and Sri Lanka. The government paid US $ 6. 9 million (Rs. 1,382 million).

Later, the Auditor General, in his report, said there was a dereliction of duty on the part of the Agriculture Ministry, the State Ministry of Agriculture, Colombo Commercial Fertilizers Ltd and Ceylon Fertilizer Ltd in this transaction.

Asked about action against this case, Deputy Agriculture and Livestock Minister Namal Karunaratne told Daily Mirror that the transaction would be probed for sure. He said the government now considering how to proceed with it.

In addition, he said the then government even spent a colossal amount of money on the failed organic farming project in 2021.

“That government is reported to have spent Rs.60 billion on the project. We will also probe it,” he said.

He said the probing mechanism would be decided later.

“We have handed over thousands of files containing details about frauds in the past. Each will be probed,” he said.

Sri Lanka banned chemical farming at that time and resorted to organic farming. However, it led to crop yield reduction eventually resulting in unrest among farmers.