BY Pamodi Waravita
While the Presidential Task Force on Creating a Green Sri Lanka with Sustainable Solutions to Climate Change has decided to acquire and utilise uncultivated land owned by regional plantation companies (RPCs) to harvest food crops, Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PA) Chairman Bathiya Bulumulla told The Morning yesterday (11) that they have not been informed of any such decision by the Government.
Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera was quoted in a press release issued by the Environment Ministry Media Unit yesterday, noting: “Currently, plantation companies own large tracts of land in the country that have not been used for any cultivation for over 25 years. But since they are not used for any cultivation, they don’t contribute to the country or the economy. President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has pointed this out on a number of occasions during Cabinet of Ministers’ meetings.”
Thus, the Task Force has decided that the uncultivated land owned by RPCs must be utilised and that the Government is prepared to provide assistance for RPCs that want to initiate food cultivation on their unused lands.
Amaraweera had further said that President Rajapaksa has instructed that a cabinet memorandum be submitted for the acquisition of uncultivated lands.
“The Task Force also discussed the fact that some companies have stated that they will use lands that have not been cultivated for more than 25 years for various housing schemes. But those lands should not be given for the construction of housing schemes in the future,” added the press release.
Bulumulla told The Morning yesterday that the RPCs are yet to be informed of the aforementioned decision.
“Very little of the lands owned by the RPCs are currently underutilised. This is also largely due to ad hoc policies by the Government. For example, previous governments authorised palm oil cultivation on some of our underutilised land. However, this year, they banned palm oil cultivation,” he added.
The privatisation initiative in the tea sector commenced in 1992 where state-run estates were handed over to the RPCs. Earlier this year, the Plantation Industries Ministry along with the State Company Estate Reforms, Tea and Rubber Estates-Related Crops Cultivation and Factories Modernisation, and Tea and Rubber Export Promotion State Ministry revived the scrutiny process to monitor the financial performance of RPCs. This is done in addition to a performance evaluation study conducted by the Plantation Industries Ministry, the Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB), and a private audit firm, which is reviewing the social welfare of the labourers in the plantation sector and aims to help the RPCs maximise the utilisation of their resources.
However, according to the Government, if the RPCs are willing to cultivate food crops on such uncultivated land in their possession, then the Government would cease to acquire such and would instead assist the RPCs in such cultivation.
Government to farm on RPCs’ uncultivated lands but RPCs unaware
11 Oct 2021
Government to farm on RPCs’ uncultivated lands but RPCs unaware
11 Oct 2021
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