The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) has emphasized the need to prepare a business model suitable for Lanka Sathosa in order to make it profitable.
Lanka Sathosa Ltd was called before the COPECommittee on Thursday (22) under the chairmanship of MP (Prof.) Ranjith Bandara.
A statement from the Parliament said the following primary facts related to the company’s 2019 and 2020 Auditor General’s reports and current performance were investigated at the meeting.
Instructions to prepare a comprehensive plan up until 2028
Attention was drawn towards the fact that a concrete plan for 2021-24 was in place but it was not approved by the Ministry. MP Bandara informed the officials to prepare a comprehensive plan up until 2028 and report on its activities within 2 months. He further instructed to prepare an action plan.
Attention was directed towards internal audit queries not being done properly
It was discussed that although there are 21 internal auditor staff, only 3 audit queries have been submitted for the year 2021 and none for the year 2022. Moreover, attention was drawn to the auditor’s difficulty in obtaining information regarding the company’s accounts. Accordingly, the Auditor General also informed that the Internal Audit Department should be notified in this regard through an internal circular.
A decision to discuss separately the loss of 6 billion rupees due to the importation of rice.
It was disclosed that during 2014-2015, there was a loss of 6 billion rupees due to the importation of rice through Lanka Sathosa. It was also discussed that the imported has been sold for animal feed due to expiry. A report has been prepared by the Auditor General regarding this incident and thus it was decided by the Committee to discuss this matter in the future.
MP Bandara also said that the loss of Lanka Sathosa in 2022 is close to 600 million. It was also discussed that the total loss by December 31st, 2021 is close to 15 billion.
The need to prepare a suitable business model for Lanka Sathosa emphasized
It was discussed in the Committee that instead of importing and selling goods, Lanka Sathosa y has missed the opportunity to sell goods at a lower price to the customer and gain more profit for the company by buying and selling goods from Pettah.
Furthermore, the officials explained the loss due to the delay in receiving money even though the goods are imported based on the policy decisions taken by the government.
MP Bandara emphasized the need to prepare a business model suitable for Sathosa. The Auditor General also pointed out the internal administrative weaknesses as well as the need to establish this institution under a business model that can make decisions independently without external interference.
The Committee also emphasized the need to attract more customers to Lanka Sathosa stores.
Instructions to carry out a re-evaluation in respect of the vacancies before filling them
It was revealed that there are 1123 employee vacancies in the institution and the Auditor General pointed out the need for a re-evaluation before filling those employee vacancies.
It was also decided to re-summon Lanka Sathosa on August 22.
Members of Parliament Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Dayasiri Jayasekara, Nimal Lanza, Jayantha Samaraweera, S. M. M. Muszhaaraff, S. M. Marikkar, Sanjeeva Edirimanna, Shanakiyan Rasamanickam, Madhura Withanage, and (Prof.) Charitha Herath were present at the Committee meeting. (NewsWire)