• Out of 18, 4 yet unopened while few others are inactive 
• Ministry authorities say commission-earning middlemen have become fully-fledged businesses with stall-leasing mafia 
• Finds original purpose of fixed/fair prices for farmers and reasonable rates for consumers entirely defeated due to price gap

The Government has planned to turn all the 18 dedicated economic centres around the country into a single organisation with one board of directors (BOD) in order to achieve their intended objectives, stated the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, and Food Security.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, the Deputy Minister of Trade, Commerce, and Food Security, R.M. Jayawardhana said that the main purpose of setting up these centres was to ensure that farmers received a fixed and fair price for their produce, and to allow consumers to buy goods at reasonable rates. 

"However, the current system has failed to deliver on both ends. There are middlemen in every economic centre. They were meant to earn a small commission for their role in the process, but now, it has turned into a fully-fledged business.”

He said that the gap between the price that farmers receive for their produce and what consumers ultimately pay has grown significantly over the past. “If a kilo of vegetables is bought from a farmer in Dambulla or Keppetipola for Rs. 100, by the time it reaches the consumer in a distant area like Colombo, it's being sold for around Rs. 400. The middlemen’s involvement and the leasing of stalls in these centres have turned into a kind of mafia. This completely defeats the original purpose of these centres.” he added.

Out of the 18 economic centres across the country, Jayawardhana said that four have still not been opened, and that a few others, though declared open, are inactive. "In order to revive the system and make it more effective, we have decided to merge all these centres under one company. With the formation of this company, key decisions affecting all economic centres can be made collectively. A board of directors will be appointed to oversee the company, and each individual centre will have a designated manager to run day-to-day operations," the deputy minister pointed out.

Some of the economic centres that are functioning are those in Narahenpita, Dambulla, Veyangoda, Meegoda, Thambuttegama, Jaffna and several other areas. At present, every economic centre has its own manager and a governing board that includes the relevant District Secretary, Divisional Secretary, and members of the farming and business communities.