Sathosa incurred Rs. 15 billion loss due to irregular rice imports

It was revealed during a meeting of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) that Lanka Sathosa Limited suffered a loss of over Rs. 15 billion due to the importation of rice in 2014 and 2015 contrary to proper procurement procedures.

The revelation was made during the recent COPE meeting, chaired by Member of Parliament Dr. Nishantha Samaraweera, which convened to examine the Auditor General's reports for 2021 and 2022 and the current performance of Lanka Sathosa Limited.

COPE highlighted that a total cost of Rs. 27,011,980,142 was incurred for the imported rice in 2014 and 2015, but the revenue generated from the sale of this stock was only Rs. 11,854,949,124.

The Committee pointed out that this resulted in the massive loss of approximately Rs. 15,157,031,018 to Sathosa.

The loss occurred because the rice was imported without a proper study of the domestic rice market conditions, paddy harvests, and rice storage facilities, and in violation of formal procurement regulations.

When COPE questioned the attending officials about whether a formal investigation had been conducted into the matter, the officials stated that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had completed the investigation and referred the findings to the Attorney General's Department for the filing of charges.