The loss of Lanka Sathosa in 2022 is close to Rs.600 million and the total loss by December 31, 2021 is close to Rs.15 billion, it was disclosed during a Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) meeting.
It was discussed at the meeting held on June 22 under the chairmanship of MP Ranjith Bandara that Lanka Sathosa has suffered a colossal loss of 6 billion rupees due to the importation of rice through the institution during 2014-2015,
The imported rice 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 at the Committee to discuss this matter in the future.
Although there are 21 internal auditor staff of Sathosa, only three 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.
It was revealed that there are 1,123 employee vacancies in the institution and the Auditor General pointed out the need for a re-evaluation before filling these employee vacancies.
Attention was drawn towards the fact that a concrete plan for 2021-24 was in place but it was not approved by the Ministry.
Accordingly, the Committee Chair informed the officials to prepare a comprehensive plan up until 2028 and report on its activities within 2 months followed by an action plan.
It was discussed in the Committee that instead of importing and selling goods, Lanka Sathosa 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 the Pettah.
It was also decided to re-summon Lanka Sathosa on August 22.