Lankeshwara Mithrapala, the owner of ‘New Rathna’ Rice Mill, has invited Trade Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe to personally inspect the company’s rice production facilities following the minister’s claim in Parliament yesterday (6) that large-scale rice millers were stockpiling rice.

Responding to the allegations, Mithrapala stated, “I urge the Trade Minister to inspect my company at any time. I can prove the quantity of rice I released, my production capacity, and the stocks I have.”

He defended his practices, explaining that maintaining rice stocks is necessary to ensure a consistent supply to the market until the next harvest season.

“We don’t release all our rice stocks to the market at once. I have 1,000 employees working at the mill, and I manage these stocks to produce rice daily and supply it to the market until the next harvest begins. I must protect the rice stocks I have and continue production until February 1,” Mithrapala added.