It is exposed that the government of Sri Lanka has not been able to recover the amount of 6.9 million dollars paid to a Chinese company for the purchase of a stock of bio-fertilizers, due to the failure of those responsible in the country to keep the letters of credit and performance bonds related to the transaction. Sri Lanka Latest News
The Auditor General has mentioned that the Sri Lankan authorities have failed to keep the letters of credit and performance bonds valid without expiry related to the transaction made during the Gotabhaya Rajapaksa government.
The Auditor General notes that the letters of credit and performance bonds related to the transaction have expired by March 2022.
The Auditor General has stated in his report that the Ministry of Agriculture, State Ministry of Agriculture, Colombo Commercial Fertilizers Ltd and Ceylon Fertilizer Ltd have been dereliction of duty.
Sri Lanka bought a batch of organic fertilizers from China’s Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Ltd in 2021 amid crisis in the agricultural sector due to the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government’s ban on chemical farming.
However, the government has refused to accept it saying that samples of the stock were found to be contaminated with harmful bacteria.
The matter sparked a commercial dispute between China and Sri Lanka, with the government paying the Chinese company $6.9 million (Rs 1,382 million) for the fertiliser.
It is reported that the current government is implementing a new program to recover the loss.
Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Gunadasa Samarasinghe has stated that Sri Lanka is conducting diplomatic activities through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to recover the loss.
He says that diplomatic methods are being tried to resolve this issue and recover the loss.
In addition, he has further mentioned that a committee headed by a judge will be appointed to investigate the dereliction of duty of the Sri Lankan authorities in purchasing this stock of organic fertilizers.
