President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has instructed the Ministry of Defence to take steps to develop necessary infrastructure facilities and provide technical assistance and labour support from the Tri-Forces to repair warehouses belonging to the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) and Sathosa to facilitate the purchasing of paddy in the upcoming Maha season.
Accordingly, a coordinating conference in this regard was held yesterday (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 to utilize the labour, technical knowhow and machinery of the Tri-Forces to carry out necessary renovation work in those warehouses.
The Ministry of Defence has agreed to provide assistance to complete the renovation work of the warehouses before the end of this month and prior to the commencement of paddy purchasing of the Maha season. It was also agreed to provide required security for the warehouse premises. These measures are taken as a part of the ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ programme.
The PMD has 209 warehouses across the island, while Sathosa has 12 warehouses. Officials also exchanged views of the shortcomings prevailing in those warehouses, the steps to be taken and also future plans.
PMB officials including the Chairman, Manjula Pinnalanda, the Chief Executive Officer, Professor A L Rajaguru, Regional Managers, 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.
