If plantation companies and private businesses do not implement the most recent daily wage increase to Rs. 1,700 per estate worker, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has ordered the cancellation of lease agreements of State-owned estates, land, and property.
“President Orders: pay up or leave to Local Plantation Enterprises”
He issued this directive after Labour Minister Manusha Nanayakkara told the President that, according to sources from the President’s Office, regional plantation companies (RPCs) have steadfastly refused to abide by President Wickremesinghe’s May 1 announcement of a 70% increase in the daily wage of estate workers to Rs. 1,700.
According to the Minister, the RPCs disregarded the government order for a number of reasons, including drops in tea prices globally. The President emphasized that the plantation companies must abide by the government order that was gazetted last week and that the estate workers had nothing to do with the changes in global market prices.
The President has given Minister Nanayakkara instructions to get statistics from the Treasury Secretary about the tea industry, including the costs and profits of the companies, and to compare those numbers with the living expenses and related figures of the estate workers. In addition, the President gave the minister a week to prepare a report detailing how the economic collapse of 2020–2022 affected the situation of estate workers. In the event that the RPCs disregard the directive from the government, their leases will be terminated and transferred to other businesses that are prepared to cover the Rs. 1,700 salary.
