Racketeers not allowed to plunder state properties – Minister

Irangika Range

Trade, Marketing Development, Co-operatives and Consumer Services Minister Bandula Gunawardana said the Government will not provide any room to racketeers to loot State owned properties and a new Trade Development Complex will replace the budget shop at Rajagiriya due to unfair trading and security reasons.

The Minister will submit this proposal to the Supreme Court on August 20. He said according to the decision taken at the Cost of Living and Food Preservation Committee chaired by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Budget Shop at Rajagiriya was closed due to receiving of number of complains of consumers on unfair trading.

This Budget Shop was opened following an assurance given by several wholesale traders in Pettah to the President to sell consumer goods at this place at a concessionary rate. But they failed in providing items at a concessionary rate to the consumers.

Even traders at the budget shop have refused to sell rice at a maximum retail price of Rs. 65 stipulated by the Government. However these wholesale traders have sold their shops in this premises to various other persons. “Therefore it has become a threat to the national security,” the Minister said.

Ministerial committee having considered this situation decided to close the Budget Shop at Rajagiriya.

After all the traders of the budget shop were informed in writing to remove their goods they sought restraining order to stop the closure of the budget shop. But the Supreme Court refused to issue restraining order and advised the Government to forward the development proposal for the land.