Mr. Minister

Ambitious plans to revive plantation sector

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

THE INTRODUCTION of the open economy in 1977 while opening new vistas for the private sector indirectly made the State industries and corporations lethargic bodies making the private sector the engine of growth.

“I agree that the private sector plays a major role towards economic development while the State institutions today are more or less confined to collecting taxes to provide welfare facilities,” the Plantation Industries Minister, D. M. Jayaratne said.

In addition, some State bodies have become liabilities and are managed on funds provided by the Treasury, he said.

“The main successes of the private sector run enterprises is the sound economic management and the maximum use of human capital available to them. While the private sector companies went ahead with investments to move with the present day demands the Government sector decided to take things unconscientiously and never thought of the future,” the Minister said.

“Sadly this scenario is evident in the plantation sector. It is fast losing its competitive edge and today, I do not want my Ministry to be a burden to the Treasury and depend on them. We have resources and technology to move in the modern era and we are now using our resources and human capital to the maximum use,” he said.

The Ministry is now going to undertake a historic venture in Mawanella and would be manufacturing tyres, tubes and rubber accessories needed for the health industry.

“We have a latex factory that is hardly used and I want to convert this into a tyre manufacturing plant,” he said.

Sri Lankan expatriates have given the Ministry the technical know-how and the guidance while they are now in the process of importing machinery from India to get this project off the ground, Jayaratne said.

This factory would be initially manufacturing bicycles, three wheelers and selected motor bicycle tyres and healthcare goods. “We would then re-invest the profits for a car tyre manufacturing plant and then look for the export market,” the Minister said.

The Ministry has three other latex factories in Horana, Dodangoda and Baduraliya which have been shut down for over a decade.

“We are inviting the private sector to come to a partnership with us to re-start them and the Government would also offer them BoI concessions.

In a bid to expand rubber plantations, the Minister has undertaken a task to grow 10,000 hectares of rubber in new areas, such as Hambantota and plants are already being grown in nurseries in Badulla. This project would be completed by the end of next year.

The contribution from the rubber industry to the GDP is also on the rise and stands at .65 per cent while the total extent of land has risen from 119,500 in 2005 to 120,150 hectares last year.

The Minister believes that value addition is a key to increase export earnings from cash crops and also to generate employment. “This is why I am discouraging the export of rubber in latex form and tea in bulk,” he said.

It is estimated that nearly 130,000 metric tons of refuse tea is being made to discard. The Tea Research Institute has now introduced new technology to get maximum usage from refuse tea.

Instant tea bags added with milk are now manufactured using refuse tea while a chocolate flavoured instant tea is now being designed and are now awaiting HCCCP certification for export.

The remaining fibre will be used to manufacture a special fertiliser to be used for household plants and this would have a market in Japan. “We are also looking at using this material to generate power,” he said.

Asked as to how many tea factories have been closed, he said that there are around 80 and steps are being taken to put them back to use.

“Some of these factories were closed due to mismanagement while the other were shut down since the supply was low,” he said.

The Minister however said he was unhappy in the manner in which State plantation companies and factories are being run and a committee would be set up to make them more viable ventures.

Several other meaningful steps are being taken to provide subsidies and fertiliser at special rates. The guaranteed price for green leaf is to be augmented while new technology is being introduced to enhance production.

They are also encouraging other intercrops such as coconut and pepper to be grown with tea so that the turnover for the planter would treble.

The facilities for employees in the plantation sector are also to be increased to give more dignity to the profession.

The ultimate aim is to increase the Rs. 91 billion annual revenue from the industry to Rs. 100 billion by the end of this year. This is not impracticable.

Soil tests have proved to be successful and two new Coconut Triangles are to be introduced next year.

The Southern Triangle will link Hambantota, Matara and Galle while the Eastern Coconut Triangle will be Trincomalee, Ampara and Batticaloa.

An ambitious plan has been launched to increase coconut cultivation by over 30 per cent within the next three years and already nurseries have been set up.

Research has also been successful in introducing a new technology where over thousands of plants could be grown inside a laboratory with the use of coconuts.

In four years, there would be 100 million coconut trees and the present Rs. 19 billion revenue from coconut based products would increase to Rs. 100 billion. This would be more than the contribution made from the tea industry, the Minister said.