He used to eat rice with gulls and his mother was engaged in the work of removing the gulls from the rice about an hour before cooking says Mr Saman Ratnapriya, Director General of Trade Unions to the President adding that saying rice with weevils has been brought is not proper when the rice is given away free
“When talking about the rice distribution programme, they say that the children have been given rice that is not edible. The rice subsidy was given under the World Food Programme. They sent us rice in December. After storing them, the programme was planned to give rice to the children of the primary sector.
There was indeed a problem with weevils in the rice distributed. But rice was distributed to 06 provincial councils without any problem. Then there was an issue related to Weli Oya. There was another issue in the Gampaha District. But then we saw that a trade union said that the failure rate is 50%. But today I went through the reports of Medical Research Institute. Only 19% of weevils has been reported. Next, the failure rate of lentils is 5%. There is a question about how that 19% became 50%.
Even if there are weevils, the authorities in the western province ask for the rice saying that the children in the remote areas of the country go without food and there is a problem related to nutrition.
When we went to school, our mothers took the rice, soaked it for about an hour and kept it aside before cooking rice and giving it to us. We remember that history. There was such a history in this country. When there is an economic crisis, it is not appropriate to talk about the few weevils in the rice and say it will put the country in trouble and the children in trouble.”
