A step forward in development:

Evening marketing and economic centres

N. Sirimanne Ratnapala

At a time when people world over are battling with insecure jobs, pay offs, salary cuts, or compelled into migrant workforce to earn a living, our own small country is meeting the challenges of reducing cost of living and enhancing development work.

The Ministry of Trade and Consumer Affairs is dedicated to this end in making the consumer get the monies worth at a time of economic depression that has enveloped the entire world from the super rich United States, France and Japan to Indonesia or the Philippines.

Economics Centre

The opening of Economics Centre is an idea of the Minister of Trade Commerce, Cooperation Bandula Gunawardena motivated by reduction of cost of living embodied in the ‘Mahinda Chinthanaya’ election manifesto of UPFA.

Already 10 centres have been established, the latest being the Economic Centre in the heart of Colombo, Narahenpita along Kirimandala Mawatha, a speedily developed area in Colombo.

A visit to the Economic Centre in Narahenpita is a must if you are to see for yourself the meaning of what goes into this report. At a time when profit is the only motive in business and trade, protecting the consumer at a time of world recession is itself a challenge the Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Co-operatives is facing.

To meet the challenge Minister of Trade and Commerce Bandula Gunawardena was keen on expanding the concept of the economic centre in establishing as the 11th centre in Colombo. The main distributing point to these centres is Dambulla Economic Centre for village or farm grown vegetables.

The Economic Centre in Narahenpita, Colombo comprises 256 stalls selling rice, other grains, cereals, lentils, fresh and clean vegetables and fruits, sea fresh fish, dry fish, packed food items, coconut and cooking oil, for the benefit of the household or hostels and eating houses.

The local farmers, fishermen, small scale and large scale producers are all protected by the wholesale price offered to them, while the benefits are passed on to the consumers by enforcement of reasonable prices on all goods sold here.

Black marketeers

In keeping with the concept of ‘Mahinda Chinthanaya’ the consumer is protected from the black marketeers and fraudulent traders who more often than not sell genuine products.

The Narahenpita Economic Centre remains open from 4 p.m. to midnight except on Poya and special holidays. Opening hours are convenient for the daily workers who shop or market after office.

The most important item being the staple food, rice takes a considerable space with all varieties in stock for the consumers, at reasonable competitive prices. Having very good sales at the ‘Pola’, Sunil Amerasingha, a owner of a rice store stated that rice prices remain reasonable and rice therefore is about Rs. 52-58, white raw Rs. 56, nadu, keera, kekulu and basmathi sold at much lesser prices than open market.

Friday and Saturday are the busiest days for Amarasingha, with a steady increase of buyers. Rice comes from agrarian areas as Tissamaharama, Ambalantota, Matara and absence of middlemen in the sales keeps the prices at a minimum. The rice is packed in handy bags of 5 or 10 kg and lower quantities could be bought loose or arranged to be packed.

All kinds of cereals, lentils including mysore dhal, undu, green grams, etc. are available at a lesser price than in super stores. Those items are handily packed too.

Reasonable prices

There is an extra-ordinary demand for fresh vegetables too, upcountry and low country both, besides potato and B onions, spring onion leaves, coriander leaves, celery are also found in the fresh vegetable stalls at reasonable prices. There is a special place for home garden products such as jak, bread fruit, green leaves and curry leaves. There is plenty to choose from for people with different tastes and likes.

Nalaka Jayasinghe the owner of coconut stall said that there is a ready market for coconuts. There are a stream of shoppers from 5 p.m. onwards until late hours, almost daily and more during weekends. Prices of coconuts range from Rs. 10 to Rs. 26 each depending on the quality and size of the nut. Wholesale prices are relatively low, said Jayasinghe.

The cooking oil stalls cater to coconut oil and palm oil demands. Fresh coconut oil of very good quality is either bottled or packeted and sold at Rs. 104 per 750 ml bottle.

Another draw to the pola or economic centre is the fish stalls. Sea fresh fish is brought from Tangalle or Negombo area and sold at fair prices per kilo, wholesale or retail rates. Fish stalls are at the end of the pola with ample space for parking vehicles or bikes. Chunky fish of red/white varieties, small nutritious fish, shell fish, cuttle fish, crabs, prawns, fresh and meaty is sold at prices much less than in fish markets or super stores. Tuna sold at Rs. 500 a kilo or less, seer at Rs. 800 a kilo, prawns at Rs. 600-700 a kilo or less.

However some of the prices may change due to the catch or demand. Varieties of small fish are also at reasonable prices. Most satisfying is the correct weight in the buy. Demand for fish coming from fishing points of Tangalle and Negombo is quite high.

Convenient

In the dry fish stall one would walk into a number of varieties of dry fish from the sea and river. People from work find it convenient to buy their dry fish here avoiding the rush and fishy smells. In addition the dry fish is stacked with different varieties in small and large quantities. There is always a crowd in these dry fish stalls.

Maldivian fish is another item people look for, to thrill their taste buds, with katta sambol or seeni sambol. The accompaniments, B onions and red onions are sold at reasonable prices in correct weight. The consumer has the option of selecting her/his needs.

The walk through the ‘Pola’ is not dreary or dull as consumers young and old are attracted to the ware. To quench their thirst or fill their hunger in the after hours of work, there is the Royal Cabin a well-provided restaurant with pastries, vegetable roti, ever popular milky hoppers and lunu miris, string hoppers, fried rice, sandwiches etc, children and adults are drawn to. A novel feature in this restaurant is the ‘Shawarama Corner’ the most popular Arabic food which draws a lot of foreign visitors and residents, submarines and chicken roti, stuffed with fresh roasted or curry chicken, cheese sauce, and fresh vegetables at half the cost in super hotels.

A new addition would be cooked ambul thiyal in clay pots.

A striking feature in all these stores is the reception and smile of the sales persons, providing a homely atmosphere that befits Sri Lankan hospitality.

The concept of Economic Centre, therefore is another step forward in the country’s march forward in development, for besides the consumer, the farmer, the cultivator and fisherman and packer are all guaranteed a market and a proper price for their products.