'Conditional deeds' for plantation workers

by P. Krishnaswamy

The handing over of title deeds of homestead lands to 1,000 families of plantation workers in the first week of April in Passara will mark the beginning of a significant turning point in their two-century long history as resident workers without ownership rights even to the line-room shelters that they have inhabited all along for generations.

Celebrations to mark the landmark event of national importance will be held on the day, State Minister of Plantation Industries K.Velayutham told at a media conference last week. The program is in fulfilment of the National Unity Government's commitment towards addressing the housing problem of the community and bestowing ownership of the houses on them, the State Minister said.

Another meeting on the matter is also due to be held next Friday with the participation of all stake holders, including representatives of the plantation management companies, he said.

Chairman of the Planters' Association of Ceylon (PA) Roshan Rajadurai, representing the plantation management companies, told the Sunday Observer, "The process of issuing 'conditional deeds' to the workers for the homestead was going on."

The Land Reform Commission (LRC) and the two agencies - the Janatha Estates Development Board (JEDB) and State Plantations Corporation ( SPC ) that were established under the LRC 'had no say' in relation to issuing of land titles to the workers, Rajadurai said.

In terms of the 1972 Land Reform Law , the government had nationalised private-owned plantation estates and in 1975, all plantation estates owned by sterling companies were nationalised under the same law, according sources. A majority of the plantation estates were given to the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) on long-term lease for management.

Programs launched in the past by successive governments to change the line-room system and provide better housing to the workers through the construction of individual houses, twin houses and up-stairs houses have until now been successful in providing them only a maximum of 50,000 such houses but, regrettably, without ownership rights, mainly because the plantation estates are bestowed on RPSs on long-term lease and there have been disagreements between the government and the management companies on issuing the title deeds as also other legal impedimentgs, according to well-informed sources.

History has recorded that repeated efforts made by eminent politicians in the past to bestow ownership of the line-room shelters and residential houses of the workers on them have not been successful. The efforts of Dr. Colvin R de Silva when he was Minister of Plantations and Constitutional Affairs in

the 70s to bestow ownership of the living quarters of the workers of three estates, the estates having been bought by the government from Sterling companies, were not successful.

The title deeds to these 20,000 houses have also not been given to the respective workers although the loans to the banks have been settled, the sources said.