KAKINADA: Test reports of the PDS rice samples collected from cargo ship Stella L Panama have been submitted to Kakinada District Collector Shan Mohan Sagili. A 10-member multidisciplinary committee collected the rice samples on December 5. According to sources, the committee has found 2,000 metric tonnes of PDS rice on the cargo ship. However, it has not been officially confirmed yet.
Meanwhile, uncertainty prevails on the departure of Stella L Panama. The ship is supposed to sail from Kakinada Deep Water Port to Cotonou Port, Benin in West Africa with 52,000 metric tonnes of raw and boiled rice this week. Some of rice exporters out of 28 companies allegedly loaded Public Distribution System rice on it.
Joint Collector Rahul Meena visited the port on Sunday, and inspected the process of loading rice onto barges. He expressed satisfaction with the smooth and efficient loading operations. The Collector will disclose more information about Stella L Panama on Monday, he said.
Based on reliable information that PDS rice was being exported illegally, the Collector inspected the cargo ship on November 27. He revealed that the ship contained 640 metric tonnes of PDS rice. On November 28, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan visited the anchorage port and the ship. After his ‘Seize the ship’ orders, the loading was stopped. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and the Deputy Chief Minister held a review meeting with the Collectors and SPs on steps to be taken to curb illegal exports of PDS rice from the State.