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State of emergency declared not to militarize country: Aluthgamage
Claiming that the state of emergency was declared not militarize the country as claimed by some factions, Agricultural Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said today it was solely done for the provision of essential goods at a concessionary price.
He told Parliament that the Government attempted last month to control the escalating prices of essential goods by using the Consumer Affairs Authority Act, which was not powerful enough and needed amendment to it.
“The CAA Act is not powerful enough. The fine for selling essential goods more than control price was Rs. 2,500. We have presented an amendment to the CAA Act in Parliament today to increase the fine between Rs. 100,000 to Rs. two millions. It takes at least three months to pass this amendment as it should go to the Attorney General, then to the Cabinet and to Parliament for its approval,” he said.
The Minister said if the President wanted to militarize the country, he could have suppressed some 847 protests recently amidst covid pandemic and added that the President did not use a state of emergency to control those protests.
“The President did not order tear gas or water cannons at any of the protests for the last 18 months. He could have used a state of emergency to control those protests. Protesters in New Zealand were attacked with pepper spray. The President declared a state of emergency for the well-being of the people,” he said.
Minister Aluthgamage said only a handful of businessmen engaged in the rice and sugar mafia manipulating the market.
“Those in the rice mafia are earning an income of Rs. 50 billion in just one season,” he said.(Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)
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