Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) Leader and Opposition Parliamentarian Jeevan Thondaman said that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had informed them that the lease of the State plantation lands earmarked for disposal would be extended, following objections raised by the Party over the Government’s decision.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, Thondaman said that the CWC had formally conveyed its objections to the President regarding the proposed transfer of 117 hectares belonging to the State Plantations Corporation, 88 hectares under the Janatha Estates Development Board, and 42 hectares owned by the Elkaduwa Plantations Limited. 

Last week in Parliament, Thondaman raised his objections during the debate on the Trusts (Amendment) Bill, saying that the National People’s Power had pledged in its Hatton Declaration during the Election campaign, to distribute uncultivated plantation land among young people in the plantation communities. 

However, instead of fulfilling that commitment, the Government was considering transferring more than 3,000 acres of plantation land to private parties. He added there are over 7,000 registered workers on the three State owned estates. He also questioned the absence of consultation with plantation residents and civil society organisations working in the areas concerned, noting that the affected communities had not received any official notification of the proposed move. 

Thondaman further said that the Deputy subject Minister’s response to a question raised by MP V Radhakrishnan in Parliament on the matter had been neither adequate nor satisfactory.