Sri Lanka’s Tri-Forces to assist with paddy purchasing for Maha season

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has instructed the Ministry of Defence to take steps to develop the necessary infrastructure facilities and provide technical assistance and labor support from the Tri-Forces to repair warehouses belonging to the Paddy Marketing Board and Sathosa, in order to facilitate the purchasing of paddy during the upcoming Maha season.

Accordingly, a coordinating conference was held today (January 16) at the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agricultural Research and Training Institute in Colombo under the patronage of the Deputy Minister of Irrigation and Natural Resources, Namal Karunaratne.

During the meeting, it was discussed that the labor, technical know-how, and machinery of the Tri-Forces would be utilized to carry out the necessary renovation work on those warehouses.

The Ministry of Defence has agreed to provide assistance to complete the renovation work on the warehouses before the end of this month and prior to the commencement of paddy purchasing for the Maha season.

It was also agreed to provide the required security for the warehouse premises. These measures are being taken as part of the ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ program.

The Paddy Marketing Board operates 209 warehouses across Sri Lanka, while Sathosa has 12 warehouses.

Officials also exchanged views on the shortcomings in those warehouses, the steps to be taken, and future plans.

Paddy Marketing Board officials, including the Chairman, Manjula Pinnalanda, the Chief Executive Officer, Professor A. L. Rajaguru, Regional Managers, the Director General of the Sri Lanka Army General Staff Branch, Major General Dinesh Udugama, along with senior Tri-Forces officers and Defence Ministry officials, were present at the discussion.