Govt. will ensure there are no shortages – PM

By Norman Palihawadane

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said the government had already taken necessary action to address the alleged shortage issues in the markets.

“Some Opposition members have been making statements to the effect that there are shortages of food and other items in the market. They have highlighted shortages of gas and milk powder.

We hav already have taken necessary actions to ensure there are no shortages. We’ll replenish stocks and in the meantime probe whether those shortages are artificial and created by anyone with vested interests of placing the government and people in difficulty at the time of a pandemic.”

The PM said that the government had decided to import enough milk powder and the import duty on milk powder had been removed. The attention of the Cabinet had been drawn to reports of a milk powder shortage in the market.