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| Sunday, 7 July 2002 |
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Developing skills among plantation workers The plantation industry is heading towards a major crisis due to an impending labour shortage. There is a dearth of pruners and tappers as the younger generation prefers to work in factories and offices outside the estates. The Chairman of Balangoda Plantations Ltd. V.P. Vittachi, in his review of the Annual Report for 2001, has said that steps are being taken to introduce mechanical plucking and to conduct training programmes to develop skills in pruning and tapping. The plantation industry is highly dependent on the weather and the rains could make or mar the performance of the industry. The cost of production is on the rise due to wage increases and the increase in cost of major inputs such as fertiliser, electricity and packing materials. "Therefore unless the sale prices of the produce go up, the prospects for the industry are not good," warns the chairman. Balangoda Plantations has made a pre-tax profit of Rs 23.94 million. The after tax profit is Rs 23.76 million. The first and final dividend of 12.5 per cent amounts to Rs 29.5 million. The company has ended up with an operating loss for the year while the profit before tax too has declined considerably. It is the lowest since 1995. The company has made noteworthy progress in its long-term development plans. He had stated that many factors had a negative impact on both tea and rubber sectors in terms of productivity and profitability. The work stoppage by the trade unions, climatic problems and the increase in cost of major inputs have affected the companies' performance. The fall in the rubber prices was also a factor that declined profits. Production and yields of tea have declined compared to last year. Prices did not improve but cost of production increased due to the rise in wages, cost of power and major inputs such as fertiliser and packing materials. Production and yields of rubber also dropped compared with the previous year. The rubber sector continues to lose with hardly any improvement in the prices while the cost of production keeps increasing. Pettiagalla and Meddakanda Estates maintained a successful run in the Colombo tea auction securing top prices in the Uva medium grown category during the year. The Balangoda estate secured top prices in the medium grown category while the spring valley estate also obtained a few top prices in the CTC High Grown category. The company obtained ISO 9002 certification for Galatura and Rambukande factories. It now has two modern rubber factories. The company is geared for an annual production of five million kg of natural rubber in the form of latex crepe and sole crepe of the highest purity and colour. The factories are equipped with effluent treatment plants to minimise environmental pollution. The company continues with the development programmes both in the factory and the field, investing Rs 140.5 million. Part of the investment was financed by an Asian Development Bank loan obtained under the plantation reform project approved for the previous year. Mr Vittachi has said that the first phase of the ADB loan made available to the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) through the plantation reform project came to an end in 2000. The company was able to avail itself of this facility only for three years out of the five years due to the timing of its privatisation. Discussions have been going on during the year to obtain further loans from the ADB but nothing has materialised so far. The tea sector did not do well during 2001 both in production as well as in profitability. The rubber sector continues to be a matter of concern due to the drop in production and profitability. Sri Lanka's tea production has been increasing steadily from 1993. In 2000, it passed the milestone of 300 million kg, reaching a record level of 305.8 million kg. The trend changed in 2001 recording a decline of 10.75 million kg. The reasons for the decline were the south west monsoon and the work stoppage last year. The annual average price of tea increased from Rs 135.53 per kg in 2000 to Rs 143.96 per kg in 2001, an increase of only 6.2 per cent while the rupee had depreciated by 16.5 per cent against the US dollar. Total rubber production in the country is continuing to decline. In 2001 it reached 86.2 million kg from 87.6 million kg in 2000 and 96.5 million kg in 1999. The average prices of the different grades too decreased during 2001. The company has 16 tea estates, six tea cum rubber estates and one rubber estate in Badulla, Balangoda and Ratnapura districts. The cultivated land consists of 5,400 hectares under tea and 1,900 hectares under rubber. The company is managed by Stassen Exports Ltd. since November 1, 1996. The Directors of the company are Dr V.P. Vittachi (Chairman), D.H.S. Jayawardena, R.K. Obeysekere, C.R. Jansz and S.K.L. Obeysekere. |
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