Plantation industry in fresh land ownership battle

Sri Lanka’s troubled plantation industry is facing fresh threats in the form of eroding land ownership rights, according to the outgoing Planters Association Chairman, Lalith Obeysekera.

Speaking at the 159th Annual General Meeting of the association, Obeysekera alleged that plantation companies were losing ownership of property rightfully belonging to them by way of false deeds and documents subsequently ratified by Sri Lankan courts.

“Returning land which rightfully belongs to the companies has turned into an absolute nightmare and large sums are now being spent on litigation. The courts continue to accept these documents and therefore due to the actions of the State, I repeat, the State, we continue to loose land we rightfully possessed after privatization.

The very existence of the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) rests on the leasehold rights; any infringement on these rights will have a negative impact on the whole industry,” he warned.

In its 2012 budget, the government said it would take back 37, 000 acres of unused land from Regional Plantation Companies and distribute it among small farmers, though the measure has not yet been implemented.

Obeysekera went on to highlight further cyclical supply side issues faced by the industry such as negotiations to the collective agreement and accompanying wage and gratuity payment hikes without parallel increases in productivity, along with increasing labour shortages and fluctuating commodity prices as further threats.

“Many of the estate youth prefer to move out into the cities, so we are being forced into less labour. intensive crops such as oil palm. We are also exploring the out grower model to address shortcomings and rising wage costs,” he noted.

Meanwhile commenting on significant increases to gratuity payment components following every wage hike, Obeysekera noted that employees who have an attendance of below 30 percent are still entitled to a full payment.

“This is a situation unique to the plantation industry. Nowhere else will an employee who has such poor attendance be entitled to a full gratuity payment. We expect a positive intervention from policy makers in the near future.

Policy makers must ensure that the spirit of privatization is maintained. The private sector knew what they were getting into when they decided to take over the plantations, but the covenants that we first entered into are now breaking down,” Obeysekera stated.