Oyamaduwa paddy storage complex commissioned
Nimal WIJESINGHE- Anuradhapura Additional District
group correspondent
The Anuradhapura Oyamaduwa paddy storage complex was commissioned by
Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa yesterday.
The new complex linking three buildings came up during the Deyata
Kirula - 2012 exhibition at Oyamaduwa. The complex consists of 125,000
square feet and becomes the largest paddy storage complex in the
country.
The Economic Development Minister purchased a consignment of 20,000
kilograms of paddy at a guaranteed price brought by farmers from
Nochchiyagama and Rajangane.
The minister said that the government was aware of the hardships
experienced by farmers and also picketing being staged by some
politically motivated groups demanding for the increase of the
guaranteed prices of paddy.
"President Mahinda Rajapaksa is a farmer and descending from village.
He is farmer-friendly and never lets down the farmer who is the backbone
of the country's economy. That's why the government started the
fertilizer subsidy scheme to empower farmers and to make the country
self-sufficient in rice and other subsidiary food crops.
A committee has been appointed on the instructions of the President
to look in to the grievances of the farmer community," the minister
said. Ministers S.M. Chandrasena, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Deputy
Minister W.B. Ekanayake, Provincial Minister H.B. Semasinghe and
Parliamentarian Shehan Semasinghe also participated.
The new storage complex will be administered by the Oyamaduwa Deyata
Kirula - 2012 Trust.
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