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| Sunday, 27 March 2005 |
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Editorial
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Lack of raw materials hits reedwear industry by Surekha Galagoda Born to a traditional family of reedwear manufacturers H.D. Dharmadasa has been engaged in this trade for over 36 years.
A father of four children he has won many awards including Presidential awards. His wife too has won awards for her creations in reedwear. "I can manufacture any item using reed be it a small purse or a ceiling of a building, but the main shortcoming is the lack of raw materials." At present we purchase our raw materials from Hanguranketha and we need about 400 grammes of reed to make a table mat. The cleaning process is tedious as we are still using very primitive technology. If we can get some help to quicken the cleaning process it will give a boost to the industry and craftsmen. Since we are using very primitive technology it has resulted in youngsters moving away from this industry and if we don't find a solution now it might be a dead industry in a few years time.
To dye the reed we use natural as well as artificial dyes. The process of natural dying is time consuming and costly as well, but as the world is becoming eco friendly there is a huge demand for natural products, he said. The village Kalasirigama, Manikhinna houses 110 families who are engaged in making reedwear items. We engage in this craft in our own houses, which are very small. We are expecting some help from the government to develop our craft, which will bring in the much-needed forex into the country as most of the products are manufactured using 100 percent local raw materials. Our products are available at Laksala, Lanka Hands and Lakpahana. Dharmadasa has done the entire ceiling of the Ministry of Industries at Gatambe Peradeniya in the shape of a dumbara mat using reed fibre. Another problem we face at present is that we don't get a proper price for our products due to the middlemen. If there is a mechanism to purchase our products and export them direct we would get a better price. Also if not for Laksala small-timers like us would have been wiped out by now and Laksala has helped us to maintain a standard in pricing. Speaking of future plans, he said that he wants to develop the craft and
train youngsters to enter this field. He resides at 18, Kalasirigama ,
Manikhinna. |
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