PCOI dissatisfied with reports of evaluation committee

The Committee appointed to evaluate the first phase of the subsidized scheme to introduce high-yielding imported milch cows in 2017 has not looked into whether these animals suffered from serious diseases, it was revealed at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCOI) to investigate corruption of the current government yesterday.

Earlier, it was revealed to the Commission that these cows carried the deadly Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) and fascicle hepatica (common liver flue) to the country.

Chairman of the Committee, Prof. Hewa Waduge Cyril informed the Commission that the report which recommended the continuation of the project was signed by everyone except, Dr. M.D.N. Jayaweera, the current Director at the Department of Animal Production and Health (DAPH).“MR. Jayaweera, who is an expert on diseases didn’t sign the document citing that the imported milch cows carried certain diseases,” he said.

It was also revealed that the team only visited six farms, out of 66, before preparing their report. Based on this report, which had not looked at diseases, the government had paid an advance to import another batch of 15,000 cows.

The Witness said that the committee was appointed in early 2018 and they met on January 24, 2018 for the first time. They met two more times, on February 20 and March 20 before preparing the report.

“The committee members visited six farms. I visited three on my own and among these are farms of former ministers Vijith Vijayamuni de Soyza and Lakshman Wasantha Perera. However I can’t remember the names of the owners of the other farms I visited,” he said.

The witness said that according to his observations the main issues with the cows was the lack of adequate feed.“the main issue was food. Farmers thought they could give feed that they give to local cows. But these imported cows weigh about 400 kilos and need about 50 kilos of feed. Most farmers were not educated about the need to grow grass or to stock feed. Even the farms owned by ministers did not have enough food. We could see that the cows were not getting enough feed by looking at their bodies,” he said.

Highlighting the second issue with the cows, Prof. Cyril said that farmers had not done proper procedures to place the cows in a climate similar to where they came from. He added that the sheds built for cows were not suitable, 50% of the time.