Customs duty on Jaffna foodstuff lifted

by Anura Maitipe

The government has taken steps to abolish customs duties on foodstuff to bring down the price of food items in the Jaffna Peninsula. This decision was taken at a meeting held between officials of the Defence Ministry, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority and the Commissioner General of Essential Services (CGES), Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare, Douglas Devananda told the Sunday Observer.

Steps have also been taken to increase the number of ships and barges at the Jaffna Jetty to increase the quantity of foodstuff by expediting the process of cargo unloading from ships.

The government has issued directives to the Ports Authority to simplify it documentary procedure for cargo shipments to Jaffna and make them available in Sinhala, Tamil and English for the convenience of shippers, he said.

The tax on the import of red rice (red nadu) has also been scrapped. Dealers will import them directly from South India to the Jaffna Peninsula and the rice will be handed over to the Government Agent in Jaffna, he said. The government has added two more ships to the existing fleet of nine and these ships will transport goods to Jaffna every ten days. The ships will transport fertiliser, poultry food, cement and building materials to Jaffna, he said.

The government Agent in Jaffna will employ people to unload cargo in Jaffna. The wages for these workers will be paid by the GA in keeping with the wage structure of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, he said.

The stores complex of the Multi Purpose Cooperative Society in the Jaffna high security zone been was taken over by the CGES to store sufficient food stocks for use during the monsoonal rains, he said.

With the increase of more barges the number of monthly food shipments to the Jaffna Peninsula which stands at 18 at present will be increased and the supply of 18,800 metric tons of foodstuff will be increased to 35,000 metric tons per month. In addition 42,000 bags of cement and 23,000 bags of poultry food will also be increased by 30 percent. The foodstuff and other goods will be distributed through the cooperative sales outlets in the Jaffna Peninsula, he said.