Nearly Rs. 5 billion paid to paddy farmers affected by Cyclone Ditwah

By Mangala Pavithrani

Colombo, December 30 (Daily Mirror) - Agriculture and Livestock Deputy Minister Namal Karunaratne announced that Rs. 4,983 million has been paid as compensation to 67,460 paddy farmers whose farmlands were destroyed by Cyclone Ditwah.

Speaking at a media briefing, he said that a total of 148,464 paddy farmers have submitted claims for crop damage, covering an area of 71,110 hectares. Out of these, 10,801 farmers who had cultivated additional crops received their payments last Friday.

Deputy Minister Karunaratne said that Rs. 3,381.4 million has been paid in cash as compensation for the disaster-affected crops.

He also highlighted a significant achievement of the current government, stating, “For the first time in history, the rice mafia has been completely eliminated, preventing the usual rise in rice prices that occurs every year from October to the end of January.”

While acknowledging a potential adjustment in the prices of Kiri Samba and Nadu paddy to benefit farmers, Karunaratne emphasized that consumer rice prices will not be increased.