By Sunimalee Dias
The government has carried out an assessment of the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) and found them to be performing far below expectations. The committee appointed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to study the lease agreements and way forward of the RPCs headed by R. Paskaralingam has carried out an assessment of the plantations. Since privatisation of the plantations in 1992 it has been found today that while most companies were not performing to expectations others were still maintaining them well though productivity has dropped in almost all of the RPCs.
Estates were said to have dropped productivity in most cases due to abject neglect and lack of leadership.
Erratic application of fertilizer in estates was also found in addition to the fact that nurseries in most were not properly maintained. A shortage of workers and in some estates, the reports indicate that replanting was not carried out for nearly a decade.
Further, the findings based on site visits to the different plantations by authorized agents appointed by the said committee, have noted that a number of factories on the estates were not properly maintained and that crop diversification was called for. Estate bungalows belonging to the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendents were also lacking in basic necessities and were far below expectations with unkempt gardens and surroundings. Roads within the estates were also found to be in poor conditions in addition to overgrown weeds rampant on the plantations. However, the assessors (visiting agents) had also commended certain plantations for maintaining the same standards as in the past and even adopting the outgrower model to encourage workers to increase production.
In fact it was interesting to find that in certain estates the “Appus” donned a white coat with brass buttons so indeed workers were well looked after and productivity on such estates were said to have improved as well with prices of these teas also fetching high rates, it was revealed.
But overall standards on the RPCs have fallen.
The government has carried out an assessment of the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) and found them to be performing far below expectations. The committee appointed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to study the lease agreements and way forward of the RPCs headed by R. Paskaralingam has carried out an assessment of the plantations. Since privatisation of the plantations in 1992 it has been found today that while most companies were not performing to expectations others were still maintaining them well though productivity has dropped in almost all of the RPCs.
Estates were said to have dropped productivity in most cases due to abject neglect and lack of leadership.
Erratic application of fertilizer in estates was also found in addition to the fact that nurseries in most were not properly maintained. A shortage of workers and in some estates, the reports indicate that replanting was not carried out for nearly a decade.
Further, the findings based on site visits to the different plantations by authorized agents appointed by the said committee, have noted that a number of factories on the estates were not properly maintained and that crop diversification was called for. Estate bungalows belonging to the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendents were also lacking in basic necessities and were far below expectations with unkempt gardens and surroundings. Roads within the estates were also found to be in poor conditions in addition to overgrown weeds rampant on the plantations. However, the assessors (visiting agents) had also commended certain plantations for maintaining the same standards as in the past and even adopting the outgrower model to encourage workers to increase production.
In fact it was interesting to find that in certain estates the “Appus” donned a white coat with brass buttons so indeed workers were well looked after and productivity on such estates were said to have improved as well with prices of these teas also fetching high rates, it was revealed.
But overall standards on the RPCs have fallen.
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