If allegations proved/Minister Harrison offers to resign

Rural Economic Affairs Minister P. Harrison said yesterday that he would resign from his ministerial portfolio and quit parliament if it was proved that the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) had swindled even five cents.

He made these remarks in response to allegations by the Joint Opposition that he was responsible for a loss of Rs. 10 billion to the State by allowing ‘questionable’ deals to take place at the PMB.

At a media briefing, flanked by the PMB's chairman and general manager, the minister denied the allegations and said their lawyers would take legal action against MP Jayantha Samaraweera for making false allegations.

“We are not willing to countenance false allegations. Our lawyers will take legal action next week and claim damages from the JO MP. Nevertheless, we urge the law enforcement authorities, including the Bribery Commission, to conduct inquiries into these allegations and give priority to them,” he said.

He said the PMB had always acted in a transparent manner since the new government came to power, and that a colossal sum of Rs. eight billion belonging to the PMB had vanished during the last regime.

He said they had had to sell paddy at the low price of Rs.25 per kilogram, as no buyers had come forward and they were in dire need of clearing their storehouses to store the new harvest.

“This is why we had to sell the paddy for animal feed. We needed to empty the storehouses to store the new harvest purchased from the farmers. This was done after obtaining Cabinet approval,” he said.

The minister also denied that other ministers were behind the purchase of paddy at the low price for the production of animal feed.

“There is no credibility in the JO MPs who accuse us. They are the ones who are corrupt. They have become millionaires quickly by entering politics,” he said. (Lahiru Pothmulla)