The Chairman of Sri Lanka’s state-owned National Cooperative Trust, Bandu Kuruppu says that the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI), which denied the Certificate of Sri Lanka Standard (SLs) to a stock of cement bags imported by the cooperatives, has issued a certificate to cement imported from the same company by the private sector.

He said that a stock of 100,000 cement bags were imported to be sold through cooperatives at a lower price to assist the construction industry of the island on the instructions of the Minister of Cooperatives and Internal Trade Johnston Fernando.

The official charged that the SLSI had issued the Certificate of SLS for 150 containers of cement as well as 1.5 million bags of cement imported from the same company.

The National Cooperative Trust has spent over INR30m for the cement stock that is still held at the port due to lack of standards.

The Chairman of the National Cooperative Trust says that the SLS was not granted because of the double standards of the SLSI.
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