The Hon. Jagath Vithana

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I am happy to speak in this debate. Before tea, I must speak about oil palm. Sri Lanka recommended planting 2,000 hectares; that has now been completed. Recently, after the industry came to me, I discussed with the Ministry their plan to expand oil palm. It is highly profitable for companies, but an unsafe enterprise for workers, and, according to environmentalists, the greatest threat in drought-prone areas. I have personally experienced its bitterness. As Chairman of the Dodangoda Development Committee for five years, we received a circular banning oil palm. Through the Divisional Secretary, I sent copies to all plantation companies. What happened? Ignoring it, companies planted. When Namunukula Plantations planted on one estate, people stormed it. Those people were unemployed and desperate. Before going to the site, I lodged a complaint at the Matugama Police. A police jeep also came. This is a true story. Development Committee Chairmen should know how great a responsibility this is. People uprooted those trees; even the police could not stop it. Even after stopping it, we again formally notified, “Do not do this.” For that I was served two private cases in the Magistrate’s Court. With legal counsel, I appeared and was discharged, but then a High Court case came. Police informed me I would be arrested under the Public Property Act. That case is ongoing; I stand alone—no Divisional Secretaries, no monks, no people now by my side—purely because I was Committee Chairman. I say: do not allow such injustices. I am attending that High Court case. Did I commit a wrong? There was a circular banning oil palm. Yet in Kalutara District the recommended acreage has been exceeded. Company representatives strongly favour it. Do not allow further expansion beyond the 2,000 hectares already planted, Hon. Minister.

¶ 02 I am a practical tea cultivator; I have tea lands. I see small vans and lorries selling tea plants in town. Especially in Agalawatta and Matugama, in Agalawatta in particular, people keep trays of tea plants at their homes. There is the Tea Shakthi Fund, advisory officers, and the Sri Lanka Tea Board—people with wide knowledge. Has even one of them gone to inspect whether those plants meet standards? People casually buy a few plants from roadside sellers and plant at home. Such plants last five or six years, at most eight. A standard tea plant should last about 20 years. People are being exploited. Why? There is the Tea Promotion Levy—a large fund. Fifty cents per each kilo of exported tea goes to that fund; it amounts to billions of rupees, comparable to EPF/ETF. Why can’t we use it? Why can’t we assist factory owners from it?

¶ 03 I have photographs of several factories destroyed during the terror period: Dalkit Rubber Factory at Baduraliya—Lathpandura, Asgali Estate Factory, Ambethanna Estate Factory, Miriswatta (Kalutara District’s best tea factory) at Ittapana–Malabe, Horana Watawatta Rubber Factory, Halwatura Tea-Rubber Factory, Sirikalandura Tea and Rubber Factory, Pimbura Estate Rubber Factory, Gikiyana Kanda Rubber Factory, and a rubber factory near Thudugala Ella. All were burnt. I table the photos and related documents.

¶ 04 I am not saying this to punish those who burned the factories—whether JVP or “Malimawa” or both. If we can investigate the Batalanda Commission, we can also examine these buildings, repair them, and bring in investors. How many successful businesses operated there? Let us use these buildings for development. Hon. Minister, you bear responsibility; these were state-owned factories in Kalutara District.

¶ 05 We also have LRC lands. How did LRC distribute land? Hundreds of acres were given to businessmen; some remain. A former LRC head, Thambugala, gave lands to those he wanted—multinationals and Colombo millionaires. Would it not have been better to retain state ownership and distribute half-acre, one-acre, or 1.5-acre plots to innocent people to contribute to national development? That would have increased export income. Identify such lands across the district. LRC itself does not know the extent it holds; perhaps due to lack of officers. Everything is referred to the Divisional Secretary, but they do not go to the field. Development Committee Chairmen, MPs, former MPs, and local dignitaries are there—engage them. Survey and assess how much these industries can be developed.

¶ 06 There are many problems in the tea sector; time may not suffice. In Kalutara, green leaf is brought from Ratnapura, Galle, and Matara. They are paid Rs. 5 or 10 more and then leave. But that is prohibited under Tea Board rules, yet the order is not enforced. It can be implemented easily through the Police with a directive from the Minister of Public Security: do not cross district borders with green leaf. Then factories and livelihoods will be protected.

¶ 07 Why can’t factories establish proper nurseries, with a small grant, to ensure quality plants? The Tea Board has lands, offices, vehicles—produce standard plants and sell them. I myself need plants now but cannot find any. To take this industry forward, we must provide courage and support. The quality of subsidized fertilizer is poor; ask the growers—there are lumps in the bags. Farmers avoid them and buy Rs. 9,000-per-sack fertilizer. Please test and ensure quality, or this industry will struggle; people are not turning to tea now.

¶ 08 Production has declined. With low replanting rates, yields will fall further. There is also a shortage of quality planting material. Prices paid for green leaf have not kept pace with production costs, pushing people away. New entrants are not coming—this is grave. The Tea Board, Smallholder Tea Development Authority, and TRI lack adequate resources and staff, contributing to decline, though they are critical institutions. As of now, 1,600 factories are registered, only about 725 are operating. If more close, who will pluck? The workforce is aging—50, 60, 70, even 75-year-olds are plucking. Train workers, provide incentives, and create a system; otherwise, what will happen?

¶ 09 Next, promotion of “Ceylon Tea” is minimal. Rs. 3.50 per kilo is collected as a cess for promotion; there is a large fund, but little promotion. Where is the money? Either it goes to officials’ salaries or due to lack of facilities, the industry suffers. Provide what is needed and prepare a plan to revitalize tea; otherwise, we cannot stop the decline.

¶ 10 In our areas, cinnamon is cultivated too, but the support is minimal. Quality planting material is also hard to find.

¶ 11 Smallholders produce 73 percent of tea. If people in the industry give up, what then? Agriculture contributes 24 percent of total export income and 16 percent of employment, yet receives little attention as a whole. We appreciate the roughly Rs. 172 billion allocation to the plantation sector in this Budget; it is substantial. Let us use it efficiently to provide facilities to these industries.

¶ 12 Not only tea; in coconut, the regional office exists in Kalutara, but we cannot buy plants even for money. For coconut growers, a major challenge is porcupines; after planting, they eat the seedlings. Supply protective barrels with the plants until roots establish. We now buy barrels and cut them to shield plants, which is costly. I am not sure the Board has sufficient staff; officials at divisional level do not adequately motivate farmers as before. The Minister said free plants will be distributed in large numbers; please allocate to our district as well. People are willing to plant coconuts; threats are few. But even I cannot get plants from the Kalutara office—for money or otherwise. Please decide and empower people. Do not distance officials from us; in the past, officials came to us and distributed plants; now they have retired and the new cadre or numbers are insufficient—the link between farmers and officials is gone; that is a major gap. I say this not out of anger, but practically.

¶ 13 Businessmen are waiting to take over the burned factories I mentioned. If you assess, grant a grace period, and allow them to restart and repay within five years, see how industry will grow—not only tea: coconut oil processing, rubber product factories, cinnamon processing—many such factories could be started using existing buildings around the country. I recently surveyed and gathered this information. This is the truth.

¶ 14 I also inform you that the rubber industry now faces a major threat: the EU requires certification for rubber imports. The Government must provide this certification, or we cannot export rubber. Please remember this and intervene at the Ministry of Plantations and Community Infrastructure level. Otherwise, the industry will collapse. Kalutara was once strong in rubber, but I am not sure whether subsidies exist now. Companies have moved away, and private growers are not planting new rubber, though rubber is viable—Monaragala is developing rubber now. In our wet zone, with more rain, we could help with guards and protective measures to encourage tapping.

¶ 15 Dartonfield estate exists; the Sri Lanka Rubber Research Institute is in our area, but it is unclear whether its work reaches people—though facilities and quarters exist, officers do not sufficiently engage and educate our people. Our Agalawatta and Matugama communities do not receive the service they expect. This is the first rubber research institute in Sri Lanka, yet around it, rubber trees are felled and hauled away, and then there is no rubber. Is this acceptable? Rubber can bring substantial foreign exchange. Intercrops under rubber should be promoted—I had tea under rubber; leaves are being plucked now. Provide such practical guidance.

¶ 16 Hon. Minister, your Ministry has been allocated large funds. These must reach the people. Especially, remove VAT. I do not know whether the Treasury or Finance Ministry will permit, but unless we reduce the high fertilizer prices that affect agriculture, the plantation sector will disappear. People have reduced fertilizer use—from two and a half bags per acre monthly to one bag every two months; some do not apply at all. Please visit and see; officials too. We will show you what we cultivate; then provide solutions. I make this request in good faith. We are farmers with the farmers.

¶ 17 Hon. Presiding Member, these are my main points: do not expand oil palm; enough has been planted, even beyond the 2,000 hectares. The oil mixed with coconut oil harms health; such practices lead to cancers and other diseases. Oil palm is banned in Malaysia; we brought it here. I have suffered greatly over oil palm, even facing a High Court case—not for any personal act, but to implement Government guidance.

¶ 18 Thank you for the time given.