Tea, rubber, coconut earnings top US$ 200b

Providing jobs for over 1.5 million:

Shirley Wijesinghe

Export earnings from the three main crops, Tea, Rubber and Coconut exceeded US$ 200 billion providing employment for over 1.5 million people in the recent past, Plantation Industries Minister D.M. Jayaratne said.

Unlike other export earnings, plantation crops provide the maximum net export earnings in view of the low component of inputs, he added.

He was speaking at the Program Evaluation Workshop of the Plantation Development Project (PDP) of the Plantation Industries Ministry held at Galle Face Hotel on Friday. He said the management of the estates were transferred to the private sector.

This was with the objective of deploying personnel with the required technical knowhow and experience to achieve operational, financial and administration development of the plantation sector.

Minister Jayaratne said the nationalization of the plantations exposed the sector to external assistance by bilateral and multilateral donor agencies such as the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the Japan Bank of International Cooperation. These donor agencies are also concerned about the economic viability and the living and working conditions of the plantation workers and their human rights to maintain the sustainable development of the plantation industry.

The plantation sector is characterized by erratic profitability mainly due to highly cyclical prices and weather changes. Donor agencies have infused millions of dollars into the plantation sector of the country, he said.

Commenting on the facilities provided to the workers of the plantation sector, Minister Jayaratne said certain Cabinet approvals such as to provide each family with a seven perch plot of land, to change the designations of plantation workers and the Ministry had taken decision to provide flats type houses.

The Minister explained the service facilities provided through the Plantation Development Project to plantation companies specially including provision of long-term credit facilities, assisting the development of worker amenities, provision of grants for tea factory upgrading to obtain HACCP at the workshop.