Senior Professor of Crop Science of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Peradeniya Buddhi Marambe says it is regrettable that Sri Lanka has to pay USD 6.7 million in compensation to a Chinese firm, over the importation of substandard fertiliser.
Speaking to media in Kandy today, Prof. Marambe said the country is falling into bankruptcy during a foreign exchange shortage, due to short-sighted decisions of the government.
He said more than seven months have passed since a rush decision to ban chemical fertiliser was reached by the government.
Prof. Marambe said 99,000MT of organic fertiliser ordered from China, were deemed unsafe for use by the National Plant Quarantine Service of the Agriculture Department.
He claimed that despite warnings, the government continued to use the supplier to order 20,000MT of organic fertiliser.
He said many issues arose due to this issue, and criticized the government’s decision to pay 70% of the value of the fertiliser as compensation to the Chinese firm.
