The Auditor General of Sri Lanka has recommended that legal action be taken against those responsible for causing a loss to the government by releasing funds for the Chinese fertiliser shipment with no oversight, and that the losses be recovered.
The recommendations were made in the Auditor General’s Special Audit Report on the procurement process used to purchase 96,000 MT of organic fertilisers for Sri Lanka.
According to the report, attempts were made to import into Sri Lanka a fertiliser shipment that had not been sterilised and contained a pathogen.
It went on to say that if this attempt had been successful, it would have posed a direct threat to many economically valuable crops in the country.
In his report, the Auditor General also revealed that he lost money by failing to provide the necessary fertiliser for paddy cultivation during the Maha Season of 2021/22.
The Auditor General also points out in his report that the cabinet proposal to ban chemical fertilisers and replace them with organic fertilisers was made without any scientific study.
To recover compensation, the Auditor General recommends that a case be filed against the concerned supplier.