The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna - Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, as Minister, I wish to highlight a part of this Budget that gives me great satisfaction — shared, I believe, by most of our Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people.

¶ 02 The Malaiyaha (estate) community has been here for 200 years, yet many basic rights have not been adequately realized. They still live in company line rooms, without home or land ownership, adequate sanitation, or clean drinking water. We were able to increase their wages without forcing them onto the streets. Historically, they had to protest and inhale tear gas to secure raises. One planter told me in tears, “We never dreamed of such an increase.”

¶ 03 Our manifesto pledged a Rs. 350 daily increase; we are now delivering Rs. 400 — Rs. 200 from companies and Rs. 200 from the Government — raising the daily wage to Rs. 1,750. With 25 workdays, monthly pay rises by Rs. 10,000.

¶ 04 Some in the Opposition now object, crafting a narrative: “We agree in principle, but it cannot be done.” They ask in media how the Government can pay companies; they claim it is illegal and impossible, and we hear they plan to litigate to block the Rs. 200 Government contribution. One MP even said it is better to pay companies than workers — which was their past practice: giving tax relief to their preferred companies. There is a conspiratorial bent here that I must address.

¶ 05 Once Parliament passes the Appropriation Bill, it becomes law; there is no legal bar. Successive Governments have taken decisions to protect industry, business, and workers. We will continue to do so. In the past, Government wrote off bad debts of certain companies. If it were “illegal” to pay Rs. 200 to workers, note that our Ministry supplies fertilizer to tea and coconut — input subsidies to companies are longstanding. Why the sudden scruples now?

¶ 06 This Budget also states that for persons with disabilities employed in the private sector, the Government will pay up to Rs. 15,000 per month additionally. If the Opposition’s legal theory holds, that too would be impossible. We tell estate workers: do not fear. From January, we will ensure the promised wage is paid.

¶ 07 It is the estate worker who suffers severe malnutrition, anaemia, and social injustice. We are only talking about Rs. 200 per day extra. Some are trying to trip even that.

¶ 08 Under a World Bank-funded ASMP project under my Ministry in previous Governments, grants meant to add value in plantation sectors were given. Let me list some recipients: Anoma Agro-Based Products (Pvt) Ltd — the company of the then Minister Daya Gamage’s wife — received Rs. 14.95 million; now defunct and unpaid. The then Ministry Secretary Bandula Wickramarachchi’s son received Rs. 8.2 million. Asahi Constructions (Pvt) Ltd — the wife’s company of Roshan Ranasinghe — received Rs. 18 million. Former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda received Rs. 18 million. Luck Ama (Pvt) Ltd — son of former Minister Lakshman Senewiratne — received Rs. 37.5 million. Suhada Enterprises — brother of Mangala Amarasekara — received Rs. 48.1 million. But to pay an innocent worker Rs. 200 is a “problem”!

¶ 09 Many did not start the promised businesses. For 76 years, the two parties alternated and abused funds. The World Bank, after review, refused extensions and demanded immediate repayment of USD 508,803, warning that otherwise assistance would be halted. I submitted a Cabinet Paper on 30.06.2025 to settle it from the Treasury to avoid national repercussions. We paid, and now we are proceeding with legal action via the Attorney-General against those recipients. Yet some of these same people ask under what law we pay Rs. 200 to estate workers. Under what law did they do what they did?