US$ 45,000 given to Minister Bandula to import rice is missing

A private company that was given US$ 45,000 to import rice to the country from Myanmar during Bandula Gunawardena’s tenure as Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister, had thus far not imported a single grain of rice to Sri Lanka, sources from the ministry said.

Sources also said that although Myanmar had agreed to give rice to Sri Lanka at a low price, Minister Bandula had imported rice from Pakistan at a much high price than that in the world market at the time.