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‘Palm oil to blame for coconut oil issue’

30 Mar 2021

  • Consumer rights group points finger at palm oil industry

  Palm oil manufacturers and producers are seeking to destroy the coconut oil industry by spreading rumours regarding the latter in the lead-up to the upcoming festive season, alleged National Movement for Consumer Rights Protection Chairman Ranjith Withanage. Speaking to The Morning, Withanage further alleged that palm oil manufacturers and producers seek to enter the local market and also seek to decrease the demand for coconut oil. According to Withanage, when palm oil manufacturing and production companies wanted to enter the Sri Lankan market in 1990, they did the same thing by spreading rumours about coconut oil, saying that it is bad for one’s health. “Sri Lankans then started using palm oil instead of coconut oil,” he claimed. “We need to import crude coconut oil, as we do not have the capacity to produce coconut oil sufficient to meet the country’s requirement. Importing pure coconut oil is also expensive.” According to Withanage, the law should be enforced against the wrongdoings of importers. Meanwhile, Coconut Development Authority (CDA) Processing and Development Division Director P. Edirimanne, speaking to The Morning, said that the total coconut oil consumption in the country was estimated to be around 180,000 metric tonnes (MTs) and that only 90,000 MTs were allocated to meet consumer requirements. “We only produce 50% of our requirement during the season and we need to import the rest.” According to Edirimanne, the coconut industry is challenged by the increasing demand and value-added products in recent years. State Minister of Coconut, Kithul, and Palmyrah Cultivation Promotion and Related Industrial Product Manufacturing and Export Diversification Arundika Fernando earlier said: “This has been due to the spike in the demand for coconuts by local industries and for domestic consumption. Sri Lanka faces an acute shortage of coconuts. As per estimates, Sri Lanka is now facing a shortage of 700 million coconuts.” Edirimanne said that this can also be the reason for adulterated oil being passed off as coconut oil. “Presently, the coconut tree is challenged by development activities and every day we see 250 coconut trees cut down. Due to factors such as urbanisation and the opening up of new industrial ventures, we see a large drop in coconut cultivation, especially in districts like Gampaha,” Edirimanne said. According to Edirimanne, the CDA promoted coconut cultivation in the Northern, Eastern, and North Central Provinces to increase and sustain the production. “The CDA cultivates four million coconut trees annually to sustain the total number of coconut trees.” The total acreage of coconut at present is around 1.1 million. Meanwhile, Minister of Plantations, Co-Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Ramesh Pathirana stated in Parliament that immediate steps will be taken to stop the felling of coconut trees and that accordingly, the coconut tree will be included in the Felling of Trees (Control) Act. Currently, according to the said Act, prior permission has to be obtained when cutting jak trees, breadfruit trees, and female palm trees. Meanwhile, elsewhere, Minister of Trade Dr. Bandula Gunawardana assured yesterday (29) that the stock of coconut oil that has caused the problem has not been released to the market in any way despite some rumours that carcinogenic coconut oil has been released to the market.

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