Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna – Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure
Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna clarified that land identification for the 4,700 planned estate houses is largely complete, but some sites still require NBRO reports and company land allocations, while deeds for houses completed last year remain to be issued. He stated that the Government’s policy is to grant land rights to about 261,000 estate families in phases. On estate wages, he noted that increases must be handled through the legal collective agreement or Wages Board process with companies, and said the Ministry is ready to engage within that framework.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, a brief clarification. On land rights: for the 4,700 houses planned this year, not all lands are fully finalized yet; NBRO reports and land from companies are required. Many are already identified; a small balance remains. For houses completed last year, deeds are yet to be issued; we must issue those. As a policy, about 261,000 estate families will receive land rights, in phases – practically it cannot be all at once.
¶ 02 On estate wages: as you well know, under the law, wages are increased through a collective agreement/Wages Board mechanism with companies. We must act within that framework and are ready to engage.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Friday, 14 March 2025 ·No. 1744281136023320 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna – Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 14 March 2025. No. 1744281136023320. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/26483