The Small and Medium Scale Mill Owners’ Association states that the remaining small and medium scale mills will be closed down as the government plans to import rice without taking any decision to control the price of rice.
The President of the Association Mudith Perera stated that the paddy harvest due in the Maha season is being received and as a result there will be no shortage of rice in the country.
He says that the increase in the price of rice is due to the government going to compete with the large scale mill owners to get paddy and what should have been done was to fix the wholesale price of rice and the retail price relative to the government guaranteed paddy price.
He points out that the government had bought a kilo of Nadu paddy at Rs. 56 and 50 cents yesterday (17) and accordingly the wholesale price of a kilo of rice should be Rs. 105 and the retail price should be Rs. 110.
Muditha Perera, President of the Small and Medium Scale Mill Owners’ Association says that various ministers are making statements that the government will buy paddy at a higher price and incur losses or provide rice for less than 100 rupees. .
He points out that 300,000 metric tons of paddy is to be purchased under the government’s paddy procurement system and the relevant stocks of paddy are sufficient for the monthly rice requirement.
However, the government has stated that it will import rice to control the price of rice, which will make it impossible for small and medium scale mill owners to do business, he said.
He says about 1,400 mills had to be closed down in the past two decades due to a lack of plans to empower small and medium-sized mill owners and added that only about 600 small and medium-sized mills are operational at present.
At present the price of rice is controlled by small and medium scale mill owners and the closure of these mills due to the importation of rice would create a situation where the price of rice could not be controlled emphasized Mr Muditha Perera.
