The Sri Lanka Fisheries Corporation is losing as much as Rs.100 million monthly due to fish purchases through private traders, rather than striking direct deals with fishermen, inside sources said.

It appears to be a practice which is allegedly backed by key bureaucrats and lining the pockets of middlemen who maintain a stranglehold on the trade between fishermen and the Corporation.

The middlemen, purportedly well-connected with political authorities, are benefitting from what appears to be a corrupt nexus, resulting in significant financial losses for the Corporation. With a market share of three percent, mismanagement has exacted a heavy toll, with losses soaring to Rs.6.8 billion by mid-year.

The Corporation purchases around 250 tonnes of fish and is responsible for three percent of the market share.

It is the sole supplier of fish to the state hospitals according to an agreement signed during the time of Mr. Nimal Siripala de Silva as the health minister 14 years ago. However, pricing is not competitive and sometimes overpriced with the involvement of bureaucrats of both the Corporation and the Health Ministry, who allegedly pocket the additional pricing markup.

The Corporation is mired in a financial crisis and in arrears of over Rs.600 million to the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and the Employees Trust Fund (ETF).

The trade union collective of the Corporation informed President Ranil Wickremesinghe in writing earlier that the supply deal with the health authorities is riddled with corruption such as overpricing, the provision of land- frozen fish instead of the highest quality sea-frozen food .

The unions said hospitals should be provided with fish frozen immediately after catching to make sure that patients are fed with seafood free of any bacterial infection. However, they accuse the current management of the Corporation of supplying land-frozen fish despite health risks involved.