The Hon. Jeevan Thondaman

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, first, I thank Hon. Hesha for bringing this. I also wish to clarify the reality. We have never said anywhere that we will keep funds and not build roads.

¶ 02 Whichever Minister at the Central Government becomes responsible for plantation infrastructure, the allocation to that Ministry is chronically insufficient. That is the truth. In fact, the largest-ever allocation to that Ministry came only last year. My point is: why should the Ministry of Plantation Infrastructure be constructing hospitals, schools, roads and houses? Schools should be built by the Ministry of Education; roads by the Ministry of Highways; hospitals by the Ministry of Health. We too are Sri Lankans.

¶ 03 Let me also dispel a common perception among both Government and Opposition Members: when we say “plantation people,” many immediately think “pity,” and assume all are plantation workers. Today, only about 10 per cent are estate workers; the remaining 90 per cent are outsiders. You cannot keep labelling them all as “plantation workers” and confine them to one category.

¶ 04 Our people do not need pity; they need recognition. There is a vast difference. Hon. Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe knows me as a trade unionist; let him say I have bad intent towards the hill-country people—I will answer that elsewhere. Every time I speak, some bring up my family background. But it is precisely because the Thondamans have been here for so long that the plantation community continues to live in this country.

¶ 05 A Member said NPP has already delivered 5,400 houses. How can you build houses with title deeds in four months? Can a child be born in one month? In Hatton, the Hon. Deputy Minister Pradeep acknowledged that, during my tenure, 1,261 land title deeds were issued. I will address that on another day.

¶ 06 On roads, I tell the Hon. Minister: I will give my full cooperation, and I will also obtain as much support as possible from the Opposition. The allocation to the Ministry of Plantation Infrastructure must be increased. Currently, it is about Rs. 3,500 million per year, of which only Rs. 500 million is working capital. How can we rehabilitate the roads with that? Even so, in my year as Minister, we rehabilitated the Bogawantalawa road and the Nuwara Eliya–Poonduloya road, and built roads in places that had never had them before.

¶ 07 More importantly, even if you want to rehabilitate these roads, the greatest obstacle is the large plantation companies. To move even a wheelbarrow, you must first get the company’s approval, then the golden shareholder’s approval, then the PMMD’s approval. I am saying the procedure for any development in plantations is extremely complicated. As the subject Minister, I had to seek the plantation manager’s approval, then the PMMD’s, then Finance Ministry approval, then back to the manager, then the GA’s approval—by which time a year has gone. Therefore, more than talking about allocating money or technical road issues, we must address the root problem: the procedure.

¶ 08 Let me conclude by saying: under the current situation, people of Indian origin living here are not citizens of Sri Lanka but of the plantation companies, because their livelihood-related matters require the company’s permission. Nowhere else does a Government employee seek an employer’s permission for livelihood issues. Why are the rules different for us?

¶ 09 You govern with a two-thirds majority—congratulations. I have great respect for Hon. Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Criticize the name “Thondaman” as much as you like if that brings benefits to the people—we will give full political cooperation on that stage too.

¶ 10 I have one question to the Hon. Minister. Please give me a clear answer: for the upcountry people, will it be apartment housing, individual houses, land ownership, or will you evict them? In one forum, a Hon. Deputy Minister says “no apartments,” while you say “apartments will come.” We submitted three Cabinet papers to grant land ownership to the upcountry people. If you answer, I will thank you. I again thank Hon. Hesha Withanage for this opportunity.