Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2018-05-15

Purchasing of dates required to be distributed amongst Islamic devotees during the Ramalan festival

- It is a religious practice amongst Islamic devotees to consume dates at the breaking of the fast during the Ramalan festival. As such, it is usual for the Government of Saudi Arabia to provide the requirement of dates to the Government of Sri Lanka as a donation for the consumption of the Islamic devotees during this period. However, this year the Government of Saudi Arabia has not made any donation of dates to Sri Lanka but has received a stock of 03MT of dates from 03 private donors.

Therefore, the joint proposal made by Hon. Ranil Wickremasinghe, the Prime Minister, and Hon. M.H.A. Haleem, the Minister of Posts, Postal Services and Muslim Religious Affairs, to purchase the additional stock of 250 MT of dates from the Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) required to be distributed during the Ramalan festival amongst the Islamic devotees through the mosques specially centered around the Muslim families beset with financial difficulties, was approved by the Cabinet.