by ACB Pethiyagoda

(continued from last week)

The Tea Propaganda Board was established in 1932 with participation by Government to plan and market teas rather than purely effect sales. All interested parties such as producers, traders, brokers etc. contributed generously in cash and with their expertise to assist the Board to achieve its objectives.

Mention has been made earlier of the Planters Association of Ceylon (PA) but a few significant stages of its development over the years must necessarily be mentioned.

The inaugural meeting of the Association was held on March 13, 1854 (also recorded as February 17, 1854) at which Captain Keith Jolly (ex Merchant Navy) was elected Chairman with headquarters in Kandy. Some of the early problems, which received the Association’s attention, were recruitment of South Indian labour, transport of produce (estimated at about 79,000 cartloads in one year from Kandy to Colombo) marketing, determination of Planting Districts etc.

Due to long distances planters had to travel, especially from Uva, Dimbulla and Sabaragamuwa attendance at meetings was poor even though some meetings were later held in Nuwara Eliya to correct this situation. Even so, at times the Association was nearly folding up. However, in gradual stages it stabilized itself with improved participation of its members in its deliberations and a permanent headquarters in Kandy was opened in 1900.

After about 40 years from then major structural defects surfaced, the building was demolished and its business was carried out from a temporary office in Kandy. The Association then moved to Colombo in 1947 and into its own building, in Galle Road, Kollupitiya in 1948. Following the nationalization of estates this building was taken over by Government and the Association moved to its present location at Vajira Road, Bambalapitiya.

With London being the predominant market and most owning companies based there, the PA decided to have its own Agent in London and in 1861 E.R. Power was appointed to the post on a fee of 50 pounds a year and expenses. About 1888 this position developed into the powerful Ceylon Association in London and around that time a member of the local Association gained a seat in Ceylon’s Legislative Council.

Other organization that came into being through the commendable efforts of the PA were the Ceylon Estate Agents Association in 1913 and later the Ceylon Estates Propriety Association, which also had a seat in the Legislative Council. Another such organization which owed its origins to the PA was the Ceylon Estate Employers’ Federation now the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon.

With a decline in the numbers of propriety planters, Superintendents and their Assistants felt the need for a body to safeguard and promote their interests resulting in the formation of the Ceylon Planters’ Society in 1936. Its main objectives were the promotion of their professional and personal interests while ensuring the interests of the proprietors.

Up to this the record is of the early proprietors and Superintendents of tea estates and their contribution to the development of the industry. Another highly significant contribution was made mainly by the labour recruited in South India whose trials and tribulations in their journey to their new homes and of life in the estates merits recording.

The first manual workers on plantations were the Sinhalese who were good at contractual tasks such as felling jungle, sawing timber, constructing buildings, turning out tools and implements etc. but who had no stomach for land preparation, planting and harvesting and living in estates. They, by and large, preferred to cultivate their own paddy and highlands in their villages free of regimentation by alien men. Hence, with the fast expansion and proliferation of plantations the obvious answer to much needed field workers was to draw from readily available sources in South India as other countries in the East and South Africa etc. had done before.

The Dutch were the first to bring in hired labour from South India to Ceylon for cultivation of cinnamon followed by first British Governor Fredrick North for the many public works he initiated.

Estimates indicate that there were about 4,000 Indian workers in 1841, which by 1848 had grown to about 32,000. Lt. Col. H.C. Bryde of Black Forest, Pussellawa is said to have claimed to be the first British planter to have brought in Indian labour for work in his plantation. This may have been around 1839.

Men and women who undertook the journey from their dry and barren South Indian villages to Ceylon may never had done so if they knew how arduous, dangerous and long it would be. They were escorted by Sub Kanganies, who were paid for their efforts by the planters, in small boats from Dhanushkodi to Talaimannar or from Tuticorin and other ports to Colombo. The rest of the journey to the Upcountry was on foot through dense, animal and reptile infested jungles.

The numbers who died on the way of malaria, dysentery, lack of food and water, accidents etc. during the 15 to 30 day march were not accounted for. On arrival at the plantations they were provided with manna grass or cadjan roofed houses, (better described as hovels), where they barely withstood the rigours of heavy rain, mist, cold, soggy walls and floors having lived all their lives in hot, drought scourged villages.

Under these appalling conditions they worked from dawn to dusk for a daily wage of around 30 cents for men and 25 cents for women. Of these wages the head kangany collected two cents per worker per work day while one of his many sub kanganies who was directly in charge of the gang of workers brought by him to the country drew ‘pence money’ (whatever that meant), of four cents per worker for each day worked. He was also paid daily wages by the superintendent.

Many head kanganies owned boutiques on the plantations from which they sold at exorbitant prices essentials required by the workers. They also lent money on compound interest rates leaving workers in eternal debt and in obligation to them. Generations of these men virtually lived on the sweat, toil and tears of the exploited workers and their progeny in later years did well for themselves financially. The system mercifully faded away in the late 1930s with the recognition of workers’ trade unions by the government of the day.

On January 1, 1929 the Minimum Wage Ordinance for Immigrant Indian Labour, came into force. Incidentally it was in this year that HRH the Duke of Gloucester visited the country and the Stanley Power Station was opened to provide electricity to Colombo.

The wages provided by the ordinance for men over 16 years was 54 cents, women over 15 years 43 cents and children over 10 years 32 cents per working day. Each worker was also entitled to receive a free issue of rice of a quality valued at not exceeding Rs. 6.40 a bushel at the rate of seven to eight bushels for men, three to four bushels for women and five to eight bushels for children per month.

Trade Unions representing estate workers’ interests were, as to be expected, treated with suspicion and hostility by all those who had a stake in the industry. General unrest on many estates encouraged by leftist political parties, came to a head on April 17, 1939 with the first labour strike at Kotiyagala Estate, Bogawantalawa. The workers demand was to organize a temperance movement which the Superintendent refused to allow perhaps correctly suspecting that what would follow would adversely affect discipline and consequently profitability.

Soon thereafter the second strike took place on January 1, 1940 on Mooloya Estate, Hewaheta during which Govindan, a worker, was shot dead by Police Constable D.G. Suraweera on the orders of Assistant Superintendent of Police, Robin of the Kandy Police. This incident almost led to a constitutional crisis, with the British Inspector General of Police P.N. Banks in the center of things as it were, but was averted by the able handling of the situation by Mr. D.S. Senanayake in the State Council.

The strike on Mooloya like the numerous others which followed in the years to come was on account of demand for higher wages and better living conditions. Since then many improvements have been regularly and consistently carried out with regard to housing and allied amenities throughout the country’s plantations. Unfortunately some villages in the borders of upcountry estates especially, lack the most basic amenities which are freely available on estates. This deplorable situation is mainly due to lack of organized representation on behalf of these villagers from whose very ancestors these estate lands had been arbitrarily taken over by the early British.

After Ceylon gained Independence in 1948 and particularly after the General Elections in 1956 when the SLFP came into power, the number of European planters declined making way for more Sri Lankan Assistants being promoted to positions as Superintendents and recruitment of Assistants locally. Agency Houses in Colombo gave preference to young men from the better known schools with impressive records in sports and leadership qualities.

The appointees followed the traditions and norms observed by their European predecessors in their working and social lives and the transition was smooth. With the rapid increase in competition in the world market the working lives of these planters were harder than that of their predecessors to retain the estates ‘mark’ with a quality product and to effect economies in any possible area to meet ever increasing costs, mainly labour wages.

These challenges were met with admirable results by the majority and their efforts in 1965 resulted in the country achieving the highest ever production and exports and also it became the largest exporter of tea in the world. Of the several reasons for this spectacular performance some of the most important were higher application of inorganic fertilizer, improved cultural practices recommended by the Tea Research Institute, vegetatively propagated (VP) tea coming into bearing, increase in small holdings and their production coupled with close supervision at all levels of management.

This happy situation came to an end following the Land Reform Law of 1972 and the consequent nationalization of the plantations. This event brought about a near total loss of planters’ initiative and enthusiasm on account of the reduction of their salaries and perquisites after the formation of the two organizations set up to manage the plantations – the Sri Lanka State Plantations Corporation and Janatha Estates Development Board.

Superintendents and Assistants who had previously administered their estates in the best interests of their properties were compelled to adhere to controls seeping down from bureaucrats in Colombo, many of whom had no experience in estate management or for that matter any business enterprise. Political influence from the highest to the lowest levels of the administration of estates became a common feature with labour union leaders often dictating terms. Appointments to executive and staff positions influenced by politicians resulted in wrong choices to the detriment of discipline which was of the highest importance earlier and instances of alleged bribery and dishonesty were not unknown.

The result was that by the late 1980s Government realized that to halt the deterioration, management of estates need to be privatized and grouped in 1992 the 450 odd estates into 22 management companies. Within a year or two a marked improvement in production both in terms of quality and volume was seen.

Now a century and a third after the first commercial planting of 19 acres in tea at Loolcondera, the country can be proud of 180,000 hectares of productive tea lands. The major portion of this comprises of large plantations and a lesser extent in small holdings. However, the yield per unit of land of the small holdings surpasses that of the estates and their combined production is around 283 million kilograms a year. By far the larger portion of this is marketed around the world in bulk form with a small portion as value added teas.

The industry employed directly and indirectly around one million men and women and bring in much needed foreign exchange with relatively insignificant outgoings of exchange on inputs. However, the industry’s anathema is that productivity is lower by far than practically all other tea growing countries.

The pioneers, those who followed them and those who contributed with numerous support services to develop the industry to its present status merit our admiration for their initiative, courage and dedication. Those men and women in the industry today and those who will follow it themselves have the best wishes of the country to better the achievements of their predecessors and perpetuate the once popular slogan ‘Ceylon For Good Tea’.

((First published in 2000. The late author was a tea planter who also worked for the Tea Research Institute early in his career. He ended his working life handling agricultural projects for the Ceylon Tobacco Co. Ltd.)