Reasonable price for agriculture products:

Kilinochchi DEC, a boon for farmers

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

Co-operatives and Internal Trade Minister Johnston Fernando said the Government will set up a Dedicated Economic Centre (DEC) in Kilinochchi to help farmers secure a reasonable price for agriculture products and provide cheaper food items to consumers.

Following the discussion on Thursday with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Minister on the proposed DEC the President directed that construction work on the Kilinochchi DEC be completed as early as possible, the Minister told the Sunday Observer yesterday. The President has already allocated Rs.180 million to construct the new DEC in Kilinochchi. The President who held talks with the Northern Province Governor Major General G.A. Chandrasiri has already released a block of land in Kilinochchi to construct the DEC and the Ministry will begin construction work next month, the Minister said.

Minister Fernando said the Ministry hopes to complete construction work on the Kilinochchi DEC in seven or eight months. The Ministry through the DEC would introduce a mechanism to provide a fair price to farmers for their agriculture products in the area. This would help farmers directly to uplift their socio-economic conditions too.

At present, the Ministry has set up several wholesale DECs in Dambulla, Nuwara Eliya, Badulla and Tambuttegama. In addition, the DECs in Meegoda, Ratmalana, Narahenpita and Bokundara are functioning as wholesale and retail DECs.

The DEC to be set up in Kilinochchi will also function as a wholesale and retail Centre and give priority to the wholesale trade. The opening of DECs countrywide has encouraged the business community to provide a competitive market environment for wholesale traders, the Minister said.