Bread price recently increased by another five rupees in Sri Lanka

The Kumaratunga administration in 2001 that signed the agreement with Prima Company, UNP parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake said.

As a result of the agreement the Prima company was given the monopoly right of wholesale delivery of wheat flour, Karunanayake added.

Price monopoly

The agreement provided a provision to impose 25% tax for any other company importing wheat flour, according to the UNP.

The party accused the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration of trying to divert the attention of increasing cost of living (CoL) by accusing the previous administration of offering price monopoly to Prima company.

On May 2002 the AG department wrote to my secretary saying that they do not advise to alter the agreement due to international implications Ravi Karunanayake

In fact the monopoly was offered by the 2001 provisional government, in which President Mahinda Rajapaksa's political ally, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), was also a member, UNP said.

President Rajapaksa was a senior member of the Kumaratunga administration.

Parliamentarian Karunananayake added that the Attorney General's department did not allow UNP-led government to change the said provision.

Legal advise

"On May 2002 the AG department wrote to my secretary saying that they do not advise to alter the agreement due to international implications," he told journalists in Colombo.

The price of bread increased by five rupees as the company increased the price of wheat kilogram by Rs.13.

	Government says Wickramasinghe administration offered monopoly to Prima company

Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and other ministers have alleged that Karunananayake who was trade minister in 2002 administration has accepted Rs. 1000 million from the company.

"To whom did I pay that money, to Cabinet ministers in Kumaratunga government?" he queried.

Karunanayake challenged the government to appoint a parliamentary select committee to probe the alleged corruption.

He also threatened to sue the government leaders who accused him of corruption in dealing with the Prima Company.