Former Speaker and Chairman of the National Movement for Social Justice Karu Jayasuriya in a tweet has called on the government to reconsider its ban on oil palm cultivation in Sri Lanka. 

Jayasuriya noted it will save much-needed dollars for the country and also pointed out the evidence does not support a ban. 

In April 2021, the Sri Lankan Government took an unprecedented decision of banning palm oil imports and ordered the uprooting of oil palm trees to be replaced with rubber trees.

The main reason cited was palm oil's negative social and environmental impacts based on a contestable report prepared in 2018.