Co-operative allegations proved false

Minister of Industry and Commerce, Resettlement of Protracted Displaced Persons & Cooperative Development Rishad Bathiudeen meets Namal Karunaratne of Lanka Govijana Sansadaya (All island Farmers’ Federation-AIFF) on 9 January in Colombo.

• Rishad, Co-op officials prove allegations to be false
• ‘It’s not our Ministry that sources foreign funds’ - Rishad
• ‘We alleged based on info we received’ – AIFF’s Karunaratne

The Sri Lankan consumer can benefit only when the small scale rice miller is safeguarded. “We praise Minister Rishad Bathiudeen for promptly looking into this issue and clarifying it,” said Namal Karunaratne of Lanka Govijana Sansadaya (All island Farmers’ Federation-AIFF) on 9 January. Karunaratne was speaking after a meeting with the Minister of Industry & Commerce, Resettlement of Protracted Displaced Persons & Co-operative Development Rishad Bathiudeen at the Co-operative Department, Colombo on 9 January. The meeting was called by Minister Bathiudeen after Namal Karunaratne made false allegations on TV against Minister Bathiudeen. At a recent press conference AIFF’s Karunaratne alleged that Minister Bathiudeen has led the process of registering a false cooperative entity called as Sri Lanka Rice Producers Cooperative Association aimed at fraudulently collecting funds for it. A Sri Lanka Co-operative Rice Producers Association already exists and therefore registration of another co-operative bearing such a similar name is illegal, he said on TV, adding that the newly registered co-operative also applied for a loan from a company in China of more than Rs. 1000 million.

Minister Bathiudeen, joined by Secretary of the Ministry KDN Ranjit Ashoka clarified that he does not have any powers to approve loans for co-operatives and clearly showed that his officials did not do so either. “Any foreign fund application should go through the Finance Ministry and External Resources Department and not though our Ministry. Our officials have not approved nor recommended any such fund applications. Therefore this is clearly a false allegation,” Minister Bathiudeen said and added, “I am also instructing my officials to speed up support work for local co-operatives and to speed up registration processes also.”

After clarifications were made, AIFF’s Karunaratne said: “We praise Minister Rishad Bathiudeen for promptly looking into this issue and clarifying it.” He added: “We made these allegations based on the information we received. We have to safeguard our farmers and millers and that is why we took up this cause. We shall clarify to the media of our error today.”