All 14 Dedicated Economic Centers (DECs) in Sri Lanka at the present will be brought under a new state company and operating under the proper administration, Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Co-operative Development Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe has said.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday (June 06), he has said, “Currently, there are a lot of problems and shortcomings in this entire process. Farmers do not get the right price for their products and also it takes a long time to transport their product’s to the DECs causing huge losses in harvest”.
“We will bring all these economic centers under a proper management board. This will solve all the problems that have arisen so far. The prices of vegetables and fruits in Dambulla will be displayed on digital boards in all other economic centers. Currently, Dambulla and Thambuttegama are opened in the morning, which is inconvenient for farmers. It takes about two days for vegetables coming to Dambulla to reach Colombo. Therefore, the opening times of the DECs will be changed and transport facilities will also be increased to prevent damage to the products during transportation.
Although Rs.1,400 million of state funds have been invested on these 14 DECs, the government has not received a single cent from them, he adds.
(Excerpts – dailynews)
