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| Saturday, 22 May 2004 |
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Price control, a prime concern of Trade Minister by Chandani Jayatilleke
Trade Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle vowed to develop a new culture within the institutions under his Ministry and to courageously face any criticisms on essential consumer items and the prices - controlling the prices of essential items being a major responsibility of his Ministry. The Government will take measures to provide equal benefits to both consumers and farmers while maintaining a rapport with them, he told the Daily News in an interview. However, he said the absence of Sathosa - the retail business arm of the Trade Ministry is a major disadvantage to perform his duties to the fullest. "But, we will do the best with the available resources," he said. Following are some of the views of Fernandopulle on trade and related issues during the interview. Public criticism I am well aware of the criticism this Ministry is subjected to. While in the Opposition, I was one of the leading persons who criticised the dealings at the Trade Ministry. This is one of the major things I bear in mind. It is important that we take measures to protect the farmers' and consumers' rights at the same time. It is also important to think about ways of giving reasonable prices to consumers and better prices to farmers. We need to balance these two factors and satisfy both the farmer and the consumer. I believe if we maintain this strategy, we will not receive much criticism in the future. Unison with Agriculture Ministry In an effort to lessen farmers' woes, we will work in unison with the Agriculture Ministry. So that we can have a better understanding about farming and harvesting times. We are planning to visit agricultural and paddy harvesting areas to determine the available stocks of essential food items. We are not going to import any rice at a time our harvest arrives. We are not going to repeat the mistakes done by the previous government and get into a mess. CWE (Sathosa) Though the Trade Ministry was highly engaged with wholesale and retail sales through its widespread CWE outlet network in the past, now we don't have the CWE outlets since the retail section has already been privatised. Now we have only the wholesale business and there's no wide network. But, we are trying to do the best with what we have. For instance we have two rice mills one in Hingurakgoda and the other in Hambantota. The Hingurakgoda mill has the capacity to process 50 tonnes of paddy a day. India has agreed to provide us rice under the Indian Credit Line, if there's a shortage in rice in Sri Lanka, so that we can assure sufficient stocks and price of the rice throughout the year. Gas prices We are aware of the increasing prices of gas in the world market and the chief gas player in Sri Lanka wanted to increase the price subsequent to these increases. But we intervened and got them to revert the decision. At present there is a committee including the Ministers of Finance, Power and Energy and Trade to look into the issue of gas prices and gas market in Sri Lanka. This committee will ensure the future prices of gas in the market. At the same time, we encourage more players to enter into the gas market and create competition in the field in a positive manner, so that there will be price competition which will eventually benefit the consumer. Sathosa employees We still have over 700 employees who have not agreed to take the VRS (Volunteer Retirement Scheme) offered by the Sathosa's new management and also employees who opted for it but could not take it prior to the change of government. And they are being paid by us. I want to prepare a special Cabinet paper and get Cabinet approval to re-employee them, since they have not taken the money. Consumer Protection Authority (CAA) We need to provide more teeth to the CAA. At present, its DG position is vacant and we have already advertised this vacancy. We are hoping to get a suitable person to this position and activate the institution in its full capacity at the earliest. In my Ministry nothing will be privatised. It's out of the question. In fact we have made a request to the present private management of the CWE to hand over the management to the government. CWE (Sathosa) is meant for ordinary people, and not for Colombo's elites. What has happened through the privatisation of Sathosa is that the ordinary people have been deprived of getting the services of Sathosa. Present Sathosa has driven out the ordinary people. Since I took over the Ministry, I have been able to put a stop to privatisation plans of Salusala and the State Trading Corporation. I also decided to set up my Ministry office at the Sathosa head office building because it was proposed to be sold by the previous government. And this sale has also been cancelled. Therefore, privatisation is not an issue in this Ministry. Bilateral trade This is another area of importance. Sri Lanka already has a Free Trade Agreement with India. There has been both good and bad reflection on that. However, we plan to further improve trade relations with India. But, at the moment, our priority is to begin a FTA with the US. We are planning to open negotiations with the US authorities as early as possible. Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar has made some initial steps in this regard during his recent visit to the US. And during the last government, the two countries signed a TIFA which is the initial stage of a FTA. In my capacity, I am planning to meet the US Trade Minister in June on my return from UNCTAD in Brazil. We are enthusiastic and are driven to go for a FTA with the US specially to provide benefits to our apparel exporters. Apparel is the number one export item to the US and it is one of the top foreign exchange earners for Sri Lanka. Therefore, it is important that we have a FTA and a low duty system for our apparel exporters. I have already met the representatives in the apparel industry here and they enlightened me on certain issues they are facing as far as exports are concerned. I got very important points from them, prior to my meeting with the US ambassador in Sri Lanka with whom I talked about the possibility of a FTA. However, I believe, the talks and negotiations on the FTA will take about one year or so. The US will also take some time to finalise the final draft. Being the Minister of Trade I have always taken the consumers' side and been critical of certain issues such as cost-of-living and escalating prices of essential items. Now I have been given the challenge to find answers for these crucial issues. I think it is a challenge to be the Trade Minister under the UPFA Government. I would say, I want to perform this duty to the best of my ability, while providing the best to the consumer and the farmer. Well... I am prepared to take this challenge. Future plans We want to get two more rice mills and streamline the distribution of rice and wholesale business throughout the country. When we have more mills, we will have the capacity to purchase and process rice on a mass scale. Farmers and consumers will immensely benefit through this. Secondly we want to set up our own security section. |
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