The Plantation Industries Ministry is compiling details of lands of state-owned tea estates that were given to private individuals by the previous UNF Government under the government ’s program of developing and rehabilitating state-owned tea plantations,.
This is the initial step towards retrieving the lands and bringing them under the rehabilitation and development program, authoritative Ministry sources told the Sunday Observer.
The step is a sequel to discussions CWC Leader and Minister of Estate New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development Arumugan Thondaman had with Plantation Industries Minister S.M.Chandrasena last week at the office of the Plantation Human Development Trust (PHDT) , the sources said. The fact that the current administrative procedures are in the way of developing and rehabilitating state-owned estates, it was pointed out at the discussions, the sources said.
Lands of the State Plantations Corporation (SPC), the Janatha Estates Development Board (JEDB) and Elkaduwa Plantations Corporation (EPC) categorised as productive lands, medium productive lands and barren lands were given to private individuals and politicians by the previous regime under political expediency programs resulting in the abandonment of large extends of productive tea lands and destitution of thousands of estate workers, Chairman of the Plantation Human Development Trust (PHDT) and Vice President of the CWC S.Arulsamy told the Sunday Observer.
Minister Chandrasena has called upon the heads of the state-owned plantation institutions to present the details of lands that were given to private individuals and politicians to the Ministry Secretary, Arulsamy said.