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| Sunday, 20 October 2002 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Early retirement of planters threatens industry by Elmo Leonard Around 100 planters in Sri Lanka retired prematurely last year, seeking greener pastures. Around 75 per cent of these planters were aged 30 to 55, outgoing president of Ceylon Planters' Society (CPS) Ajith de Silva said at the 66th Annual General Meeting of CPS recently. De Silva lamented that over the past few years, 10 per cent of planters had retired each year in the prime of their careers. Among the reasons for early retirement were violence in plantations, the stepmotherly treatment meted out to plantation executives and meagre salaries, De Silva said. Plantations bring in around Rs 60 billion annually, making the industry the highest foreign exchange earner. This is equivalent to Sri Lanka's annual food imports bill, De Silva added. It was regrettable that experienced planters retire, paving the way for less experienced persons to take up these posts, De Silva pointed out. Many planters were killed during the JVP insurrection in the late 1980s when plantations were targeted. Acts of violence continue in plantations. The CPS seeks an end to this state of affairs, he said. De Silva drew attention to the damage caused to the plantation industry by last year's go-slow campaign. This year too, that threat loomed, but was averted with the move to pay higher wages to estate workers. Those who organise such destructive acts should understand that the plantation industry must exist, for plantation workers to keep their jobs, he said. Result-oriented plantation management companies had shown an interest in adequately remunerating plantation executives. The CPS endeavoured to get better salaries for plantation workers, but was not even able to discuss the matter with all but one plantation management company, he said. The name 'Ceylon Tea' was retained after Ceylon was named Sri Lanka in 1972. This is because 'Ceylon Tea' is a reputed brand name. De Silva asked whether Sri Lanka should call its tea, pure 'Sri Lanka tea'. He also pondered whether Sri Lanka should import tea for blending. We took these questions to leading members of the Colombo tea trade.A spokesman for Forbes and Walker said the name Ceylon Tea is accepted by consumers worldwide, especially in the First World, the oil rich states, Russia and CIS countries. If this was changed to Sri Lanka Tea, it would cause confusion among tea drinkers worldwide. There has to be a justifiable cause to change the name Ceylon Tea to Sri Lanka Tea. It should also show economic benefits to Sri Lanka. Such a move to change the name would have to be backed by a multimillion dollar international campaign. It was the vision of the late Lalith Athulathmudali, as Minister of Trade and Shipping in the early 1980s, to import tea for blending and re-export the tea, making Sri Lanka an important tea blending hub. The Sri Lanka Tea Board now allows only CTC (Cut Tear Curl) teas to be imported to Sri Lanka for blending. Sri Lanka is a prime producer of orthodox teas, which cannot be imported to the country. Last year, Sri Lanka exported around 260 million kilos of tea, of which about one per cent was imported. Therefore, there is no threat from tea imports, members of the Colombo tea trade pointed out. Rohan Fernando was elected president of CPS. |
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