by Garvin Karunaratne

The Department for Development of Agricultural Marketing(Marketing Department)

My desk at Tripoli Market had three telephones. Tripoli Market was a very large hanger, perhaps the largest hanger fixed by the British Armed Forces during the Second World War, taken over by the Marketing Department where the headquarters of the vegetable and fruit marketing scheme was housed. This was in 1957 when there were no hand phones and it was even difficult to get a phone connection. It was rare for three telephones to sit on a single table, but so it was and they always rang- at times two or all three at the same time from all directions and often Divisional Marketing Officer Livera rushed in to help.

There were fifteen Assistant Commissioners in all parts of the island and around thirty five or more Marketing Officers purchasing vegetables at fairs all over the island every day. They were all active workers whose day on at least four days in the week started at around four in the morning. That was to be at the fairs that began early in the morning by five or six. The Marketing Officers, with a lorry or two, with weighing scales and a few Assistants were active in purchasing; they . were required to purchase in competition with the traders..

In charge of the Vegetable and Fruit Marketing Scheme at Tripoli Headquarters I had a senior Marketing Officer at the Wholesale Vegetable Market in Colombo. His task was to see what quantities came in and to find the prices at which the wholesalers sold their produce. This was actually a listening exercise, listening to people buying and the wholesalers quoting prices. These had to be kept in the head and reported to me on the phone. The Marketing Officers at the fairs would also report the prices at which the traders bought and me- my task was to fix the buying prices for all our units in the entire island- prices that had to be always above the prices at which traders bought the produce at the fairs. The idea was to enable the producers to get a high price. That was always a difficult exercise- however we got used to it. If the COPE were now to inquire about how I decided the purchasing prices- I would find it difficult to explain because the system had no rules to follow. It was based on hind sight, flash decisions based on information that poured in every minute, more kept in my head, never written down. There was no time to write it down as within a flash another telephone call came in or a problem occurred in one of the sections that accepted goods and I had to be eternally on the move..

The guideline of the Department for Development of Agricultural Marketing was firm and definite- offer a higher price to the producer, always higher than the prices offered by the traders and simultaneously fix selling prices as low as possible- keeping a margin of around fifteen to twenty percent to cover up wastage and handling. The aim was to get the traders who purchased goods at the Fairs to offer higher prices and simultaneously to offer the goods at cheap rates in some fifty or more small sales outlets all over the City of Colombo and in other main cities.. That compelled city traders too to offer goods at competitive rates. We were compelling all private shops sell at low rates

Tripoli Market was the hub that ran the country’s purchasing and selling of vegetables and fruits. Twenty or more rail wagons and the same number or more lorries would roll in every morning. Many producers in Colombo would also bring in some veg and fruits that were bought and put up for sale. Veg and fruit . were being unloaded, weighed, sifted and repacked and sent off in minutes to around fifty small sales shops of our own for sale- at rock bottom prices- generally fifteen percent over the buying price. At the sales units the good were whopped up by people. The rock bottom prices made the private retailers too to sell at low rates, otherwise there will be no buyers. That entirety was aimed at controlling inflation, caused by traders fixing high prices. This was a method I have never seen anywhere else in my world wide travels in the USA, UK, Europe, Canada, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico —etc.

It was all done under the strict eyes of the Commissioner BLW Fernando, a chartered accountant who had all eyes on every detail that did happened in the entire island. In my year at Tripoli he never turned up but knew every detail that did happen. All Assistant Commissioners were summoned for a conference in the first week of every month when the performance of every district and Tripoli Market was carefully looked into. For every unit a profit and loss had to be prepared and presented and if a loss was recorded or if the profit was over fifteen percent the Assistant Commissioner was held responsible. We got used to walking on this tight rope and on the second day of the conference all Assistant Commissioners were invited to dinner at the Commissioner’s residence.

It was always a hive of activity. The telephone will ring eternally.

It was once a call from the Marketing Officer who had gone to the Hanguranketa Fair. He was expected to buy around two thousand pounds of tomatoes- the amount that was essential for our shops.

There is an enormous amount of tomatoes. Traders will buy some and the rest will go waste.”

How many lorry loads?”

Around Four.”

Hold the line.” I said, dropped the phone on the table and grabbed the other telephone.

Fonseka, can you get me three lorries now.”

Fonseka the Transport Officer said yes. I could depend on Fonseka. He had some one hundred or more lorries in good order.

Get the three lorries to go to the Hanguranketa Fair straight away.”

Then back to the Marketing Officer at Hanguranketa,

Buy everything. Three lorries will leave in minutes . They will roll in some four hours. Do you have enough cash to pay.”

Hardly sufficient.”.

I dropped the phone again, grabbed another phone and dialled the Assistant Commissioner in Kandy.

Your Marketiing Officer at Hanguranketa Fair is purchasing all the tomatoes- three lorry loads- lorries are on their way from Colombo. The Marketing Officer needs cash send cash now.”

I spoke back to the officer at Hanguranketa, I phoned the AC at Kandy. He will send you cash which will get to you in around an hour.”

Then a call to our Canning Factory at Narahenpita.

Three lorry loads of tomatoes will come by day break. ”.

It was lucky to be tomatoes as the Canning Factory could make it into Tomatoe Sauce and Juice.

That was the end of an episode and similar episodes were many; before one had the time to write down the phones rang again. This time it was the Assistant Commissioner at Jaffna,

Instead of the normal five waggon loads of Red Onions, I am increasing it to ten waggon loads per day. This will go on for at least a month. I have to buy red onions-there is a bumper crop and I have to clear my stores. .”

OK done.” I dropped the phone, called Adhikari, another Marketing Officer.

We will be getting ten waggon loads of Red Onions from tomorrow morning. Increase the amount of red onions to each shop from now and get five lorries ready to do van sales of red onions. We will fix a rock bottom price tomorrow morning. Get Fonseka to have the lorries ready. Find the men. Tell them that they have to work selling till late at night till the entire stock is sold.”

In the meantime a known party- a mother and a daughter came in to purchase vegetables. I greeted them offered the mother a seat and offered my seat to the daughter. It was a revolving chair and she looked delighted. Revolving chairs were rear those days. I called one of the Assistant Managers and asked him to attend to their request-purchases. .A message came from one of the sections inside and I rushed out. Before I could reach that section an officer comes chasing behind me,

Sir, a call on your phone..” from London.

I rushed back, found Divisional Marketing Officer Livera and told him to go to that section to which I was going. Back in my room, I grabbed the phone.

It was Tikka, Oswald Tilekeratne the Assistant Commissioner who had gone to Europe- his task was to find buyers for our pineapples.

I have clinched a large order for pineapple pieces. Get the Factory to get going three shifts a day .We have to send off a thousand tins next week to London.” In Tikka’s absence I was also in charge of the Cannery.

I phoned Pathmaperuma, at the Cannery told of the order and instructed him to get three shifts- 24 hour working from the next day on pineapple pieces..

The phones would go on sounding for ever, and people would come buying, friends dropping in to buy and that was an unending story till I clocked off somewhere at around six though I should I had been away by five.

Two years later I was stationed at Ambalantota. Covering all activities in the Southern Province. It was the red onion season when waggon loads of red onions purchased from producers in Jaffna and would be loaded and despatched all over to Galle in the south, to Tripoli Market, to Kandy, to Badulla and everywhere where the Railways went. It was a task for the Assistant Commissioners to get sales done. I was stationed at Ambalantota and Galle was handled by a Divisional Marketing Officer.

One day I had been to our Shop and stores in Galle and they had cleared all the waggon loads of red onions in time and were actively selling at retail prices to the people and at wholesale prices to shops. I casually dropped in at some private shops and saw them too selling red onions. I was satisfied that red onions were available to people and drove back to Ambalantota and slept. That was my day’s task. The next morning as I sat at my desk, a telegram was delivered. All urgent messages were then telegraphed. The phone at my desk never worked. It took at least two hours to get a call. I had to wind it to the postmaster and I could get a connection in at times an hour or two. The telegram said; Member of Parliament for Galle Dahanayake complains to the Minister that there are no red onions for sale in Galle shops. Investigate and report”. I was angry. This was false. But I had to take action. I left for Galle at once racing along as fast as my Peugeot 203 would take me. I raided my shop and found them selling red onions and found the store full, like what I saw the earlier day. Then I went to many private shops to observe whether they had onions and they were selling onions briskly. I then went to meet the member of parliament that had complained, Mr Dahanayake. It was around six and I went to his residence. He was not in. I was offered a seat and I waited. It was a long wait. He came in at around ten and inquired why I was there,

‘Sir, you reported to the Minister that my shop did not have red onions and that there is a shortage in Galle and I got a telegram. I was in Galle yesterday and have been to shops mine and private shops and all have red onions for sale.”

, Mr Dahanayake did not answer at once. He was rolling his eyes.

You should have informed me first if there is a shortage.” I added.

Yesterday one of my supporters came and said that there are no red onions for sale in the shops and to satisfy him I sent a telegram. I have to keep my supporters happy as I face an election next year and I need them. ”

But my boss will have a poor opinion of my work. It will be a black mark. There is never a shortage. I am here every week checking the situation and there never was a shortage.”

What you say is true. I will inform the Minister of the circumstances why I sent that telegram. You need not worry.”

That was all. I drove back to Ambalantota by night reaching there by about four in the morning.

I was late to get to my office. I never heard from Head Office again about this complaint. Mr Dahanayakae had kept his word to contact the Minister. That episode ended.

We Assistant Commissioners were on pins. We had vast areas to cover and had to be everywhere to ensure that marketing officers were purchasing properly and despatching vegetables and fruits.

An important task was to meet main producers and advising them about what varieties to grow.

Another aspect was our fifty or more small shops in Colombo that were stocked with vegetables and fruits several times a day. In addition the shops were full of essentials- sugar, flour, dhall, red chillies had to be there- that was the method to ensure that the traders did not sell at increased prices. This was a shrewd method of making all the private shops sell at reasonable prices. If they sold at high prices people will come to our shops and buy and the traders would not have any sales. There were no hordes of inspectors prying whether the traders sold at high prices. No cases of prosecutions in courts. Our MD shops will full stocks was a deterrent- it ensured that the traders automatically fell in line, selling at reasonable prices.

That was in a nutshell the working of the Marketing Department, It began in the days of our founding father DS and continued to serve the producers by making traders buy from them at reasonable rates and also staved off high prices against inflation without resorting to prosecutions etc. The first Commissioner was an English member of the Civil Service R.H. Basset. It was perhaps the idea of Basset, varied by our founding father DS, whose imprint is there on the sands of time.

This Marketing Scheme was lost as the IMF axed the Marketing Department with the rule that the Government was not to attend to any commercial activities. That was the Structural Adjustment Programme forced upon us when President Jayawardena sought financial assistance in 1977.

The ethos of the Marketing Department system was not to supplant the private sector, but to influence the private sector traders to offer higher prices to the producers and also influence the retailers in the cities to sell at low rates. It was a system built up in Sri lanka and found in Sri lanka only.

It was a great department which has to be brought back- with its Cannery that made Sri Lanka self sufficient an all jam and juice within the three years 1955 to 1958. Recently it was flashed that the farmers in Mahaweli had no sales for their crop of pumpkin. In the days of the Marketing Department lorries would have rolled and the Red Pumpkin would have become Golden Mellow Jam at the Cannery. It is important to note that the Cannery established in 1956 made Sri Lanka self sufficient in all fruit products- jam jelly and juice within three years 1956 to 1958,

The Marketing Department is a development system that needs to be brought back to serve our producers and consumers.

Over to our new leader, President Anura Dissanayake for kind consideration.

Garvin Karunaratne, former GA Matara, 051124 garvin_karunaratne@hotmail.com