In a fiery speech in Parliament today, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Mujibur Rahuman accused the government of enabling a new corruption scandal this time involving the salt trade.
According to the MP, Lanka Salt Corporation, which imported salt cubes from India at $80 per metric ton, has sold the salt to a private company at an unusually low price. What’s more alarming, he claimed, is that the head of this private company also sits on the board of directors of Lanka Salt Corporation, raising serious questions about conflict of interest and insider dealing.
Rahuman alleged that the company purchases the salt for Rs. 350 per kilo and then resells it after processing at prices exceeding Rs. 350 per kilo as powdered salt.
He pointed out that the cheapest imported salt from India should only cost around Rs. 24 per kilo in Sri Lanka, even after adding the standard Rs. 40 tax per kilo and other minor costs. By that measure, salt could be sold to the public at far cheaper rates, he said.
Instead, Rahuman charged, the government has allowed a new “salt mafia” to flourish despite coming to power promising to dismantle cartels, such as the so-called rice mafia.
“This government didn’t crush the mafia it multiplied it,” the MP stated, drawing sharp criticism from the opposition benches.
The accusation now adds to a growing list of public sector procurement controversies and deepens scrutiny over how state-run corporations are being used for potential profiteering by insiders.
