Minister requests proposals to further develop Cey-Nor

Feb 20, Colombo: Minister of fisheries and Aquatic Resources Mahinda Amaraweera has given directives to the officials to bring forward proposals and projects to further develop the state-owned Cey-Nor Foundation factory in Mattakkuliya as a profit earning public entity.

During the progress review meeting of Cey-Nor held recently under the patronage of the minister, it was brought to attention that during the past five years, Cey-Nor has lost a significant amount of profit due to management deficiencies.

The storage complex and the boat yard of Cey-Nor in Mattakkuliya had been leased out to a certain private company under a low monthly rent of Rs 100,000. This had incurred a huge loss to the institute and therefore the agreement was cancelled and a new agreement was entered in to with another company that had agreed to pay a monthly rental of Rs one million earning a huge annual profit to Cey-Nor.

Accordingly, the total loss incurred by Cey-Nor during the past 5 years is approximately Rs. 60 million. Cey-Nor restaurant in Colombo had been leased out to a private company five years ago for a monthly rent of Rs 150,000. However, its higher management briefed the Minister that another company is willing to pay a monthly rent of Rs 1.6 million for the restaurant.

The Minister informed the officials to make necessary arrangements to further develop Cey-Nor and also mentioned that deficiencies in management are the reasons that have led public entities into loss making conditions.