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Dudley Sirisena exits media briefing lambasting fellow speaker

23 Jun 2022

BY Buddhika Samaraweera Araliya Group of Companies Chairman Dudley Sirisena walked out during a dramatic media briefing convened by medium- and large-scale rice mill owners yesterday (22), lashing out at New Rathna Rice (Pvt.) Ltd. Chairman Lankeshwara Mithrapala, who was seated alongside him at the head table, for calling for an increase in rice prices. Emphasising that the prices of rice varieties should not be increased within the next three months, Sirisena strongly criticised Mithrapala for calling for an increase in rice prices during a media briefing convened by medium- and large-scale rice mill owners yesterday (22). During the media briefing, Sirisena stated that he would not, given the current situation, agree at all to an increase in rice prices within the next three months. “People who are suffering due to the economic hardships these days are not even able to buy a kilogram of rice. Therefore, I do not agree to increase rice prices. I also want to make it clear to the people to not buy rice by paying more than the control price imposed by the Government. If the Government does not have the backbone to control the rice prices, let’s do it. People cannot even go to their jobs as they have to wait in queues. Can we think of profits in this situation?” Mithrapala also spoke to the media on the occasion and expressed a different view to Sirisena’s, stating that the control price imposed by the Government should be set aside and that the rice prices should be increased. “We need to save the farmer at this time, especially as they are spending a lot of money on farming these days. Therefore, we need to forget the control prices imposed by the Government and give a special price to the farmers for paddy. Also, the consumption of Nadu rice has increased by now. That is why the price of Keeri Samba paddy is lower than the price of Nadu paddy now. That is the situation in the market. That is why we say that there should be a price hike at least for Nadu rice,” he said. Sirisena strongly objected to this statement, saying that at present, a bag of Nadu paddy costs Rs. 8,000 and a bag of Keeri Samba, Rs. 9,000. While criticising Mithrapala, he stood up and walked away from the forum. At that time, other rice mill owners attempted to stop him (Sirisena), but he left. After leaving the forum, Sirisena told Mithrapala: “Do not lie. There is no need to talk about increasing rice prices here. You get up and go. All these people are working together every day to increase the price of rice. New Rathna Rice, Lath Sahal, and Nipuna are all involved in this. However, for so long, the media has been saying that it is I who created a rice mafia. Now it is clear as to who created the mafia, right?” At that time, another rice mill owner commented: “Mithrapala expressed his opinion to increase the rice prices. So if a price hike is not given, he will take care of it, but we, the other mill owners, say that we are selling rice at controlled prices. If Mithrapala can’t do it, we have nothing to do with it. The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) is there to take the necessary steps if someone is selling rice at higher prices.” Sirisena, who is also the President of the Rice Mill Owners’ Association, said last week that all rice varieties should be sold under the Government-imposed control prices from 18 June. Noting that all rice mill owners should release their stocks to the market at the control prices, he said that the people would be fully responsible for maintaining the market price of rice beginning from that day. A Gazette Extraordinary was issued by then-CAA Chairman Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Shantha Dissanayake, stipulating a maximum retail price (MRP) for Local White/Red Kekulu rice, effective from 10 June. As per the said Gazette Notification, the new MRP on a kilo of Local White/Red Kekulu rice stands at Rs. 210. In addition, on 2 May, the CAA issued a Gazette Extraordinary through which MRPs were set for Local White/Red Nadu rice, White/Red Samba rice, and Keeri Samba. According to the gazette, a kilogram of Local White/Red Nadu is priced at Rs. 220, a kilogram of White/Red Samba is at Rs. 230, and a kilogram of Keeri Samba is at Rs. 260.  


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