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| Sunday, 6 July 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Colombo Commercial Fertilizer back in business
The revamped Colombo Commercial Fertilizer Ltd (CCFL) recorded a profit of Rs 11 million in 2002 compared to a loss of eight million rupees in 2000. CCFL suffered a colossal loss of Rs 42 million in 1998 and a loss of Rs 23 million in 1999. With the UNF Government coming into power in December 2001, the company was revived and handed over to a new management with B. Chandana Perera as the Competent Authority. "When I took over, things were in bad shape. Production was very low, the organisation was recording heavy losses and most of all, the staff was demoralised. With the available resources, I gave the best facilities to the staff, which motivated them to work smarter and increase efficiency. By selling the scrap iron that was thrown here and there, I was able to collect around one million rupees, which I used to buy computers for the staff," Perera said. He said that there is a wealth of ideas that can be initiated to generate revenue for the institution, but that liquidity problems halt them from initiating these. Minister of Agriculture and Samurdhi S.B. Dissanayake, under whose purview CCFL comes, has given a soft loan of Rs 100 million to meet the liquidity problems. Perera is keen to develop the organisation as he is of the view that privatisation is not a solution for all ills. "Our people are capable and motivated and can meet the challenge. Therefore, I do not see any necessity to privatise this organisation, but injection of cash is a must to make it more viable," he stressed. Chemical Vs organic fertilizer Chemical fertilizer acts fast and can meet the demand while organic fertilizer takes time to produce results and as such, cannot meet the demand as fast as chemical fertilizer . "In my opinion, the 50 per cent mix is the best for the country and the soil," he said. Distribution "At present, we work with 11 plantation companies which buy our fertilizer direct from the factory. We also have an islandwide distribution network from where farmers purchase their fertilizer requirements." New ventures "We have started a project of planting trees and selling them once they are about five feet tall. This is the initial step in starting the genetic resource centre. Since we have the fertilizer and the labour, the cost is very low. Therefore, it is a viable project." New shops "An old building was demolished and we are building a row of shops. Most of the raw material is from the old building. The National Livestock Development Board has already agreed to rent a shop while Milco too is interested in one. We will retain one shop to sell plants as well as fertilizer which will give us an additional income," he said. Future During the year, CCFL hopes to increase production to 40,000 metric tons and complete the row of shops and commercially venture into selling plants. History Colombo Commercial Fertilizer Ltd was started by the British in 1872 and was nationalised in 1976. After nationalisation, it was taken over by the Ministry of Agriculture and run as a government-owned business undertaking. The company did well under the Competent Authority Kalinga Jayawardena. In 1994, it was privatised, but failed. It was taken over by the government again under the Rehabilitation of Companies Act No 36 of 1996. |
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