THE news item published in the front page of a leading English newspaper regarding a move of the Ministry of Defence to sell 41,000 tons of the empty mortar shells to Singapore as scrap brass for Rs.150 a kilo despite the normal market price being as high as Rs.350 a kilo, is completely misleading and false.
The news article states that mortar shells remain after being fired. However it should be stated that empty mortar shells do not remain after live firing. Those which remain are artillery shells, ammunition used by the armor tanks or some other small arms ammunition. The empty ‘mortar shells’ referred to in this news should be the empty artillery shells. However the authority of distributing or selling these empty shells vests solely in the Commanders of that specific Armed Force.
It should be specially mentioned that the SL Army has taken steps in the past to donate these empty shells with the purpose of building “Golden Fences” in temples whenever a request is made. One key example is that the former Commander of the Army donated empty artillery shells in order to build the Golden Fence at the Kelaniya Rajamaha Viharaya. Therefore it should be stated that many temples have received these empty brass artillery shells as donations by the Army.
In the instance where a request for these brass artillery shells is made directly to the Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order, the Ministry generally forwards such requests to the respective armed forces. It should be clearly mentioned that no other Government Ministry or Institution interferes with the distribution of the empty artillery shells except the respective armed forces.
Earlier a special Cabinet Approval was issued to give these empty brass artillery shells to the Sri Lanka Industrial Development Board to distribute among the small industry holders. However this decision was also halted after March 2009. But a decision has been taken to distribute 02 empty artillery shells each to all the officers and other rankers of the SL Army. This is given as a souvenir to express the heartfelt gratitude for the sacrifices made by valiant soldiers during the Humanitarian Operation.
Therefore, the Security Forces confirm that this news article is a completely false and misleading one.
