Archives

Return to golden era of plantation industry, says Minister

I pledge to bring back the golden era of the plantation industry and see that the job of a planter was a plum job as it had been during that golden era, said Lakshman Kiriella Minister of Plantation Industries at the 148 Annual General Meeting of Planters' Association of Ceylon held at the Galadari Hotel, Colombo recently.

"The Planters' Association of Ceylon has a proud history and it is the oldest planters association in Sri Lanka. It has survived many hardships and faced many challenges successfully. It also maintained the dignity of planters and we will once again see that golden ear. Today the planters know this and they are happy. After the nationalisation of estates their prestige dropped" Minister Kiriella said.

Minister Kiriella also noted the importance of forming an umbrella organization to take decisions for the swift development of the tea industry. "Similar organizations are necessary in all plantations, otherwise it had become very difficult to reach consensus and implement decisions. When I was the Minister of Tourism, I formed such an organization and it worked very smoothly. This eliminated the disunity that existed there. Today the government has kept out of running the industry and it has handed over the management of plantations to the private sector", the Minister said.

The Minister said that it was very important to make not only the industry economically viable but also to keep the labour on the estates. If you don't diversify, the estate labour will rush to the north and the east as there would be rapid development there with the dawn of peace and prosperity.

You will have to employ family units to work the estates. I have asked the authorities not to get foreign experts as we have the best expertise in this industry. We will also have to convert our tea sales to dollar auctions. I assure you that this government led by Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe will always assist you. He wants me to tell the plantation companies to diversity crops. Unless you do it, we all will be in great trouble" he added.

Navin Dissanayake Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries, said "After ten years of privatisation plantation managements improved rapidly. It has changed for the benefit of the industry. If the productivity does not increase, there cannot be any wage increases".

He also stressed the importance of value added tea exports, and the increase in productivity. If companies had to pay the wages the productivity should increase, he added.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager