Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Cement controversy: Compromise expected

SLSI in crucial discussions today 

By Lal Gunasekera

An end to the so-called cement crisis would be possible if the discussions scheduled for this morning (30) among the Sri Lanka Standards Institute (SLSI), Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) and cement industry, including the importers, manufacturers and traders, yielded intended results, sources said.

The Chairman of the SLSI Kanchana Ratwatte told The Island that a discussion had been scheduled for today among all the stake holders and that he felt a compromise could be reached to end this controversy.

He said that the SLSI was prepared to accept a quality certificate from an accredited internationally accepted laboratory, but the consumers would be purchasing cement at their own risk without an SLS certificate.

The National Cooperation Council (NCC) under the purview of the Ministry of Cooperatives and Internal Trade had placed an order for 100,000 bags of cement to overcome a shortage in the local industry, but only 14,000 bags (Each containing 50 Kg) were released to the local market.

The cement was ordered from Lucky Cement Company of Pakistan, with an SLS certificate, which was later withdrawn by SLSI due to "interior quality" of their product.

http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=33518

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