The Island 01/07/2011
By Lal Gunesekera
Minister of Cooperatives and Internal Trade Johnston Fernando said that every effort will be made to form cooperative societies in every school and university in the country.
Speaking on the second day of the Isuru Saviya Educational and Trade Exhibition, to mark the centenary of the cooperative movement, Minister Fernando, on Wednesday (29) in Kurunegala, said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s decision to wipe out debts of cooperatives and the establishment of Mini Co-op City and Co-op City outlets, to make available essential consumer items at controlled prices, also helped to strengthen the cooperative movement.
He said that the youth of this country will be looked upon to strengthen the cooperative movement for competitive trading practices. He also revealed that they were targeting the universities and schools with the aim of having a new membership of 300,000 persons to make the cooperative movement people oriented.
The Chief guest was Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Sumedha Jayasena. Parliamentarian Lakshman Seneviratne too was present.
