The government will decide on the budget proposal to impose restrictions on the acreage of Regional Plantations Companies (RPCs) after an audit of their finances by international accounting firm KPMG, Plantations Industries Minister Navin Dissanayake said.
A government committee headed by former Treasury Secretary, R. Paskaralingam is evaluating the performance of all RPCs, he said.
“KPMG is doing an audit of their accounts. After that’s done we can decide on the proposal to restrict the acreage of RPCs,” he told a press conference at the ministry last week.
Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake in the budget for 2017 presented to parliament in November 2016 said the government will restrict the amount of land held by RPCs to a maximum of 5,000 acres as the government was not happy with the way some of them were managed. Plantations Industries Minister Navin Dissanayake said no hasty decision will be taken on the proposal, which RPCs have objected to. “The RPCs have safeguarded the plantations. They are no longer a burden on the government and they have maintained production,” he said.
“We have to know truth of the financial situation of the RPCs – to see what the RPCs have done over the past 22 years. The audit should be available in 2-3 weeks.”