Govt. announces plans to takeover unutilised land plots of RPCs by re-enacting draconian law

By Nishel Fernando
The government plans to takeover the unutilised land plots of the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) in six months by re-enacting the Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilised Assets Act, according to Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva.

Participating in a meeting held at Damro Labookellie Tea Centre and Tea Garden in Nuwara Eliya last week, the minister revealed that the government is in the process of re-enacting the Underutilised Assets Act, which was repealed in 2019 by the previous regime.

While claiming that large swaths of productive land plots were abandoned by the RPCs, leaving to go into wilderness, he noted that the government has given a six-month deadline for the RPCs to utilise these land plots for economic purposes or else to face a government takeover.

Once the government takes over these land plots under the provisions of the proposed enactment  of the  Underutilised Assets Act, De Silva said that these land plots would be distributed among the families of estate workers and farmer families, with a special focus on the youth for livestock projects.

However, he emphasised that the government would retain the ownership of these land plots.
Earlier,  De Silva claimed that there were 39,000 hectares of uncultivated and abandoned lands under the management of the RPCs.

However, the RPCs were yet to be communicated on this decision. Speaking to Mirror Businesses, the key officials of several RPCs noted that they were not aware of such a development.

In 1992, the government transferred the management of large state-owned plantations to selected private sector companies. 

Subsequently, the government setup 23 RPCs in 1995 and 20 were given to the management of the private sector for a 53-year period and the government continued to maintain the management of three of them. The lease agreements are in effect until 2045