{"id":99318,"date":"2020-02-25T16:56:16","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T23:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=99318"},"modified":"2020-02-25T16:56:16","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T23:56:16","slug":"our-presidents-clarion-call-for-a-remedy-to-high-veg-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/02\/25\/our-presidents-clarion-call-for-a-remedy-to-high-veg-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"Our President\u2019s Clarion Call for a Remedy to high veg prices."},"content":{"rendered":"

By Garvin Karunaratne,<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

It is hoped that our President\u2019s attention is brought to the\nfact that our country was the only country in the world to  have a system by which the prices of veg and\nfruit was unofficially controlled. That was the Marketing Department(MD) at\nwork, buying and selling vegetables and fruit, competing with private traders,\nkeeping a low margin of around fifteen percent to cover up cost of transport\nand wastage in handling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would behove of our President to immediately order the Army\nto buy vegetables from the Producer Fairs, keep a margin of fifteen percent to\ncover cost of petrol and wastage and sell in the Cities. Traders keep at least\na total of one hundred percent  at the\nbuying place, at the wholesale dealer in Colombo and at the retailer\u2019s place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army was entrusted with this task in the days of Premier\nMahinda Rajapaksa in about 1998 and then the city was full of army lorries\nselling vegetables. I have seen them perform this yeoman service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dambulla Economic Centre and economic Centers at many\nplaces- is not the answer, because as detailed in the Daily Mirror of\n24\/2 Take Immediate steps to control Veg prices: Pres. to Officials\u201d because\nvegetables brought to Dambulla from the areas of vegetable cultivation are\ndistributed back (for sale) to the original areas\u2026 these centers are controlled\nby large scale traders  with vested\ninterests.\u201d Once it was reported that the officer entrusted with the Dambulla\nEconomic Center was severely assaulted. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is traders that rule. When I once went to Dambulla and walked\naround, it was only traders. My incessant visits to producer Fairs  for over six years enables me to sniff\nproducers from a fair distance. It will be a difficult task to find a Producer\nFair in entire Sri Lanka not visited by me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1955 when I joined the MD as an Assistant Commissioner we did\nwork from small shanty type of  sheds- we\ncalled them Packing Sheds. They were all buildings built with timber, a cement\nfloor and a corrugated cladding to keep off the rain and in a corner was housed\nthe Assistant Commissioner working in the air and dust of onions and\ncondiments. There were no DPJ Towers or Setsiripayas for us.  These were shed put up overnight to house the\nBritish Army when the Japanaese declared war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the MD,our work commenced at 4 AM in the mornings on at least\nfour days a week, visiting Producer fairs and ensuring that we bought produce\ncompeting with the traders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I include parts of my\nearlier writings, edited to avoid repetition in support.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(From:High Prices for Vegetables: Is there a remedy?<\/strong> Posted on January 19th, 2020 0<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Once in the pre IMF days, in the days before\nSri Lanka started playing poodle to the IMF Sri Lanka did have a method by\nwhich it controlled inflation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was the Marketing Department at work.\nThere was a  scheme where the Marketing Department purchased vegetables at\nthe producer fairs, brought the produce overnight to the cities and sold the\nproduce keeping a very low margin of fifteen percent to cover up cost of\ntransport and wastage. This Scheme which had been developed by Sri Lankan\nadministrators and politicians was abolished on instructions from the IMF in\n1978 when the Jayawardena Government caved in to the IMF. Since then it is the\nprivate sector traders that rule trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If only the Marketing Department  activities\nare restored, we can not only control inflation, but we can also reduce imports\nand also find employment for our people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is time that our new Government makes an\ninitiative to re establish the Marketing Department activities- its vegetable\nand fruit marketing scheme and the Canning Factory. That will be a real\nachievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inflation- Rising Prices is a major concern\ntoday. Sri Lanka had built up the infrastructure to control inflation. What we\nare seeing today-unbridled inflation, has been caused because we  did away\nwith the infrastructure we had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the marketing of essential commodities, in\nmy own words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nDepartment for the Development  of Agricultural Marketing\u201d\u00a6 ensured that\nprices of all essential commodities were indirectly controlled and the traders\nwere compelled to offer fair prices to the producers and the retail shop\nkeepers were compelled to sell at fair prices to consumers.  This is a\nsystem that I have never seen elsewhere in the world\u2019 \u00a6The motto of the\nDepartment was to pay the highest possible price to the producer and sell at\nthe lowest possible price  to the consumer.( From: How the IMF Ruined\nSri Lanka,\u201d\u00a6 (Godages: 2006)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/em>I was involved with the\nentire System because I was appointed Assistant Commissioner for the Development\nof Agricultural Marketing in 1955, and worked in the Ratnapura, Hambantota,\nAnuradhapura  Districts as well as was in charge of the Tripoli Market,\nthe Headquarters of the Vegetable Marketing Scheme for a year in 1957.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/em>This System involved a\nNetwork of Retail Shops(Fair Price Shops) in every major city and a\nVegetable  and Fruit Marketing Scheme involving purchasing, selling and\nprocessing   vegetables and fruits, a Scheme  that covered the\nentire island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire island was covered by Assistant\nCommissioners in the Provinces and Marketing Officers posted in producer areas,\nwho had to report the availability of produce, prices at the Fairs, and guide\nproducers to plant varieties in demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Marketing Department established Vegetable\nand Fruit Packing Sheds(actually purchasing units) in all producing areas. The\nname given was packing sheds and they were in many places in temporary\nbuildings mostly made with timber. Even some Assistant Commissioners had their\noffices in these temporary buildings in 1955.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire Vegetable Marketing Scheme was\nadministered from Tripoli Market, based in the largest hangar in the Colombo\nGoodshed.  One part of the Scheme was to purchase vegetables and fruits\nfrom producers who brought their produce to our Vegetable Packing Sheds. They\nwere paid immediate cash. The Department was equipped with lorries that were\nsent to the chief  Producer Fairs in the producer areas. Thus there were\nmobile purchasing uints at all major fairs like Embilipitiya, Colombage Ara, \nBandarawela, Welimada, Kekirawa to mention just a few. These Purchasing Units\ncomprised Marketing Officers and a staff of purchasing officers and labourers.\nThe produce brought in was weighed and accepted from producers and they were\npaid cash immediately. The Assistant Commissioners of the Districts were\nrequired to visit all major fairs to ensure that the purchases were made\nregularly. When I worked in the Districts on most days my day commenced at four\nto get to the Fairs by six in the morning. Vegetables were purchased and packed\nand dispatched to Triploi by evening either by wagons(by trains) or by special\nlorry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Tripoli Market, the Assistant\nCommissioner  had a Marketing Officer at the Colombo Wholesale Market. His\ntask was to report the prices at which the wholesale traders sold the produce\nto the retail traders and to report on the availability of produce. In the\nDistricts, the Assistant Commissioners and the Marketing Officers had to report\nthe prices at which private traders purchased vegetables and fruit. \nGenerally there was a wide gap between the prices at which the traders\npurchased goods and the prices at which the Wholesale Traders sold to the\nretail traders in Colombo. Based on these prices, the Assistant Commissioner at\nTripoli Market decided the purchasing prices at which goods were to be\npurchased at the Fairs. This price was always above the prices offered by the\ntraders who bought goods at the Fairs. This helped the producers and the\ntraders at the Fairs too had to offer a similar price because otherwise they\nwill be out of business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a daily basis Tripoli Market received\naround twenty wagon loads of vegetables and a similar number of lorries\nbringing in produce. These were checked and had to be in our Retail shops by\nten in the morning.  Tripoli Market was a hive of activity from early\nmorning.  Then the Railways ran a very efficient service and brought in\nproduce in time.  For instance curd from Ridiyagama Farm in Hambantota was\nsent by lorry to Matara and came by night mail train to Tripoli. This was an\nitem in high demand. The retail price we fixed for Ridiyagama Curd effectively\ncontrolled the prices of curd in private shops in Colombo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Assistant Commissioner at Triploi Market\nkept a very low margin to cover up cost of transport and handling and fixed a\nlow price for sales to the consumers through the network of Shops. Generally\nthe Marketing Department kept a margin of around 10 to 15% above the purchase\nprice while the private trader at the Fair  kept a margin to 40 to 50% and\nthe Whoelsale Traders too kept around 40% and further the retail trader too\nkept around 40%.  Thus while the private trader generally kept a margin of\n100% or 120% over the purchasing price at the Fair, the Marketing Department\nkept a margin of 10% to 15%.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The working of the Marketing Department \nmeant that the private traders at the Fairs and the Wholesale Traders as well\nas the Retail Traders in the cities had to be satisfied with a low margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Marketing Department in the Fifties was\nheaded by BLW Fernando, a Chartered Accountant and he would not allow any\nAssistant Commissioner to keep a higher margin than 15%. That was a rule to be\nfollowed. Every month all Assistant Commissioners had to attend a Conference\nwhere the Profit and Loss calculations were closely studied and the\nCommissioner would chastise all Assistant Commissioners that  had a profit\nof over 10% or incurred a loss.  We were expected to cover up, not to\nincur a loss or  to get a large profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was the key method by which the prices of\nvegetables and fruits were kept in check. The Scheme has thus a dual aim- of\noffering the producer a fair price as well as offering the consumer a low\nprice.  At times it was like walking on a rope but we got used to walk on\nit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Retail Shops had to be well stocked and\nfull of goods otherwise the wrath of the Commissioner had to be faced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few years ago on one of my visits I found\ntomatoes being sold at forty rupees a kilo by a producer on the Mahiyangana\nRoad, when the retail price in Colombo was around rupees eighty to one hundred,\na margin of over hundred percent. This could not happen while the Marketing\nDepartment was at work. The Assistant Commissioners  were eternally\ntraveling as they had to visit Fairs, inspect purchasing at the Fairs and the Vegetable\nPurchasing Depots, contact producers and offer advice on items on demand.\nGenerally our traveling allowances exceeded our salaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tripoli Marker had cold rooms where the excess\nproduce could be stored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Vegetable Marketing & Fruit\nMarketingh Scheme  was very successful in ensuring that consumers in\ncities obtained vegetables and fruits at cheap rates. The Cost of Living was\neffectively kept in check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The Canning Factory<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local producers got a boost with the\nestablishment of the Canning Factory in 1955. At that time Sri Lanka imported\nfruit juice and fruit from Australia and the task of the Canning factory was to\nproduce fruit juice, jam and jellies. The Vegetable Purchasing Centers sent\ngoods to the Canning Factory. At the initial stages in canning fruit juice many\nproblems were faced and it took over a year to surmount them and get down to\nproduction for all Sri Lanka\u2019s requirements. The Marketing Department\noffered  floor prices for pineapples, red pumpkin and ash pumpkin and\nproducers benefited immensely. Floor prices meant that the Department will\npurchase everything offered at that price. Pineapple was tinned and even an\nexport trade was built up. Assistant Commissioner Oswald Tilekeratne spread his\nwings abroad very often. Red Pumpkin was turned into Golden Melon Jam and Ash\nPumpkin was turned into Silver Melon jam. The Factory activity made Sri Lanka\nself sufficient in fruit juice, jam and many other processed food within a few\nyears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Marketing Department was called upon to attend to many tasks.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once Sri Lanka was not self sufficient in\neggs. The Marketing Department offered a floor price for eggs and Triploi\nMarket collected eggs from the Negombo-Nattandiya area till Sri Lanka was self\nsufficient in egg production. Once Self sufficiency was  reached the\nscheme was disbanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the abolition of the Marketing\nDepartment, and the privatization of the canning factory all this achievement\nwas lost. That was the way in which the IMF crippled the development of the\nThird World and created a situation where we had to import our requirements\nfrom the Developed Countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the tomatoes producers at Hanguranketa\nmade pandals of tomatoes in order to highlight their plight of not being able\nto sell their tomatoes. This could not have happened while the Marketing\nDepartment was functioning. To start with the Assistant Commissioner of the\narea would be held responsible. If that happened when I was in charge of The\nTripoli Market I would have sent a few lorries and the entire stock of tomatoes\nwould have been purchased within a few hours and it would have been turned into\nTomatoe Sauce and Juice at the Factory. The MD had a fleet of over a hundred\nlorries. Today Spain produces tomatoe sauce, tomatoe juice, tomato paste and\nsun dried tomatoes for most countries in Europe. With a Tomatoe belt in\nHanguranketa we cannot produce tomato sauce even for our requirements. Our\nclimate had enabled a variety of crops. There is a mango belt from Anuradhapura\nto Matale. Even today if action is taken to pluck mangoes and process it, we\ncan be self sufficient in all fruit juice within six months. The Chena\ncultivators will find sales for their Red Pumpkin,Ash Pumpkin and Melon. There\nis an Avacado belt from Peradeniya to Gampola and avacado juice can easily be\nmade. The country will benefit by avoiding the millions spent on imports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the liberalization free market\neconomics of the IMF we  created a market for tomatoe sauce from the USA,\nand fruit juice from as far as Canada and Oregan in the USA.  Our\nproducers have stopped producing large quantities for fear of being unable to\nsell and we have unemployment and our farmers have low incomes. The Colombo\nSupermarkets are full of Heinz Tomatoes sauce from the USA and fruit juice and\njam from Australia.Even vinegar from the USA! The IMF did its work right to\ncripple development in our countries and for us to buy goods from the Developed\nCountries.  That was the Structural Adjustment Programme in action. (For\nmore details: How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development: Kindle &\nGodages) It is sad that we have   deaf,\ndumb and blind  economists who even fail\nto come to grips with how we were duped by the IMF. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope the Army will be enlisted for this task\nof marketing development. In President Trump\u2019s USA the Army is widely used for\nirrigation, power station construction, even maintaining levees that keep the\nsea from flooding New Orleans. In my wide travel in the USA, clocking over\n50,000 miles in my Roadtrek motorhome, crossing America thrice I have seen the\nArmy at work doing non military duties on a regular basis. It is we fools that\ndo not enlist the Army for development tasks. If at all we touch the army we\ncall them to the barracks in a short while. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let the Army experience of Van Sales, this time end with the\nestablishing of a proper Marketing Department with a Cannery. The total cost of\nestablishing a Cannery can be easily recouped in the very first year by the\nsavings of foreign exchange we use today to import fruit juice and fruit\npreparations   Later on the Army venture\ncan be handed over to a SLAS Department and the Army moved to another task-\nperhaps the reconstruction of our irrigation tanks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me live in hope.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garvin Karunaratne,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

25\/2\/2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a full detail of MD\nactivities, please read: Papers on the Economic Development of Sri Lanka\u201d,\nGodages, 2010<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For details of how Sri\nLanka was taken for a ride by the IMF, please read: How the IMF Sabotaged\nThird World Development(Kindle\/Godages :2017) and <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka & Alternative\nProgrammes of Success(Godages:2006)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Garvin Karunaratne, It is hoped that our President\u2019s attention is brought to the fact that our country was the only country in the world to  have a system by which the prices of veg and fruit was unofficially controlled. That was the Marketing Department(MD) at work, buying and selling vegetables and fruit, competing with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-garvin-karunaratne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99318\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}