Chinese fertilizer controversy: Audit report recommends prosecuting officials involved

The special audit report by National Audit Office on the controversial procurement of 96,000 metric tons of organic fertilizer from a Chinese supplier reveals that the Sri Lankan government has incurred a lost to the tune of Rs. 1,382 million in the process.

The report, issued in August 2022, also notes that all officials responsible for causing a loss to the government by releasing the funds required for the procurement of the Chinese fertilizer shipment in question should be prosecuted.

In 2021, then-government granted approval to import organic fertilizer from Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd. in China as its attempts to transform the island’s agriculture into entirely organic were unsuccessful.

The audit report revealed that Sri Lanka’s National Plant Quarantine Services (NPQS) had observed the destructive bacteria Erwinia and Bacillus which causes diseases and that the fertilizer samples had not been sterilised.

Against the backdrop of such report, the special technical evaluation committee appointed by then-Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture had given recommendations to import the relevant organic fertilizer shipment. Based on these recommendations, Ceylon Fertilizer Company and the Colombo Commercial Fertilizer Company Limited had opened Letters of Credit (LOCs) to facilitate the importation of this fertilizer shipment, the report added.