President issues directive:

PMB to purchase Yala paddy harvest

Irangika RANGE

President Mahinda Rajapaksa directed the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) to empty its warehouses and make arrangements to purchase the upcoming Yala paddy harvest from farmers.

Co-operatives and Internal Trade Minister Johnston Fernando said the PMB has made arrangements to purchase the Yala paddy harvest, expected in the market within the next two-three weeks.

He said storage facilities have been improved to store the paddy purchased from farmers islandwide.

The minister was participating in a ceremony in Colombo yesterday to distribute new motorcycles among 40 field officers attached to the PMB to streamline their services to paddy farmers.

The minister said the intention of providing motor bikes to field officers is to enable them to make visits to farmers and provide a better service.

The private sector goes to the farmers to purchase the paddy harvest and the PMB field officers could do the same," he further said.

"Today, the UNP is trying to portray the PMB as an inefficient institution which has no proper paddy purchasing plan.

But, they have forgotten that it was the UNP which dissolved the PMB resulting in a loss of over 3,500 jobs and paddy stores being given to UNP cronies," he said .

"Farmers livelihoods have been uplifted by providing the Rs.350 fertilizer subsidy and purchasing paddy stocks from farmers at a reasonable price after President Mahinda Rajapaksa came to power in 2005.