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

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, Hon. Hesha Withanage has moved a Private Member’s Motion proposing that roads within plantation areas be vested in the Government. Members from both Government and Opposition spoke. All accepted that plantation communities face serious problems. Many acknowledged that over history we failed to deliver justice—be it roads, land, housing, or basic rights. As Government, we cannot simply blame the Opposition; the responsibility to deliver now lies with us under the National People’s Power Government led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. I will outline our intended programme for the plantation community through our Ministries.

¶ 02 As stated here, the tea industry established under colonial rule has significantly declined. Successive governments failed to sustain it, leading to transfers to companies. Today plantations sit under 24 companies. Not only lands, but effectively the workers too have been handed over—formally or informally—such that their fundamental rights are undermined. According to official data, the highest malnutrition and anaemia rates are among plantation communities.

¶ 03 The issue is not only roads. Yesterday, we held internal Ministry discussions on next steps. Astonishingly, people living on estate lines often must obtain letters from estate authorities to go to the police or to enroll children in school. Ordinary village or urban residents have no such requirement. Many still lack proper IDs, marriage certificates, or even a legal address. Their fundamental rights have long been violated—no land of their own, no houses of their own. The “Kanda” (hills) holds a mountain of problems; the people’s problems are even larger.

¶ 04 Before forming this Government, on the 200th anniversary of the community’s arrival, we issued the historic “Hatton Declaration,” recognizing their rights and pledging to secure them under a new government. We are now prepared to systematically grant those rights. These are intertwined problems built over 76 years—a tangled web. Untangling such a knot must start at the root; it is not easy, but we will proceed systematically and steadily.

¶ 05 People in distress expect swift solutions; that is fair. We clarify that we are laying the foundation for a strong, orderly journey. Under the Clean Sri Lanka project, within the first two weeks of March, we will select 75 line-rooms, rehabilitate and modernize them with community participation, and hand them over. Alongside, we will launch a programme to assign proper addresses to all plantation residents, in coordination with the Postal Department; issue birth certificates on-site to those without; and issue NICs on-site as needed.

¶ 06 Additionally, this year we plan, with Indian assistance, to build 5,400 new houses. Former Minister Jeevan Thondaman noted achievements in his tenure; we do not deny earlier efforts. But problems have outpaced solutions and turned into a web.

¶ 07 Recently, in my district at a plantation near Keppetipola, 50 houses built earlier were mostly unoccupied—only about seven families live there; some houses were sold; distribution was based on politics and kinship. This time, for the 5,400 houses, we have decided—per the President’s direction—to allocate without political bias, prioritizing NBRO-identified high-risk landslide zones, to prevent further loss of life.

¶ 08 We have also agreed with the Indian High Commission to provide 60 smart classrooms for Tamil-medium children in the plantation sector by March/April.

¶ 09 In the past, some built classrooms or distributed buses for electoral gain. We are moving to a modern, need-based approach.

¶ 10 On roads within estates, there are legal obstacles: these roads lie within private/leased lands. Agreements concluded by past governments run until about 2045. However, we will not wait that long. Though companies primarily benefit by moving produce, these roads are used by the estate Tamil community to reach homes, hospitals, and schools. Under the NPP Government, we will progressively fix these roads—not all this year, but over the coming period.