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NPC demands higher wages for plantation workers
The National Peace Council (NPC) has urged the government to increase the wages of plantation workers. The following is the text of the statement issued by the NPC yesterday: “During the past month several events took place to mark the 200th Anniversary of the Malaiyaha Tamil people in Sri Lanka. Of symbolic significance was the march from Talaimannar to Matale that retraced the arduous trek of the original migrants. The National Peace Council and likeminded civil society organizations participated in these events that have sought to give recognition to the Malaiyaha Tamil people and their place in the country as an integral part of a plural society and with equal rights as Sri Lankan citizens.
The National Peace Council believes there is a special need for reparations to be given to this community for the deprivations they have suffered ever since being denied citizenship by the newly independent government in 1948. NPC notes that the Malaiyaha Tamil community living within the plantations continue to suffer from the debilities unjustly imposed on them at the dawn of Independence. Even today they live in abysmal conditions and are paid a grossly inadequate wage. They suffer from the highest levels of poverty of any community.
This community want integration and not separation either geographically or politically. They need to be treated as equals to other communities in terms of their political and economic rights and dignity, and the denial of ensuring this equality by the state in particular is unacceptable. Given the contribution they and their forebears have made to the national economy with their sweat and their toil, they deserve the identity they demand as free and equal citizens on par with other communities having been in this country now for two centuries.
NPC urges the government to take steps to increase the wage levels of the plantation workers as a priority. This would require restructuring the planation sector on modern lines as in other tea growing countries. There is also a need to permit the people on the plantations to purchase their land and own their homes. The ugly breaking of a house on the plantations which recently got nationwide attention must be remedied in a spirit of justice and reparation for decades of injustice.
The government’s policy commitment in 2016 to give seven perches of land for housing in the plantation estates to their workers needs to be implemented without delay and made applicable to all state owned plantations regardless of their management. The budget proposals for 2017 referred to the transfer of ‘public housing to dwellers who have lived in such houses for more than 15 years’ and giving each plantation family seven perches of land ‘with clear title deed’ in order to ‘alleviate their conditions from the line rooms.’ We call on the Human Rights Commission, Labour Ministry or any other institutions relevant to, or responsible for, looking after workers’ welfare to go to courts to get justice and other services provided to other workers in this country to this community also as another remedy
President Anura Kumara Disanayake has appointed Ms. Thanuja Murugesan as the new Chief Secretary of the Northern Province.
The official letter of appointment was presented to her on Tuesday (20) afternoon at the Presidential Secretariat by Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.
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President directs officials to promptly renovate the canals and drainage system in Colombo
With the rapid increase in dengue and chikungunya cases in the Colombo district, President Anura Kumara Disanayake has directed the relevant officials to promptly address the urgent maintenance of the canals and drainage system
The President gave these directives during a meeting held on Tuesday (20) at the Presidential Secretariat with officials from the Ministry of Urban Development, Construction and Housing, along with other relevant institutions.
The President questioned the officials regarding the inadequate maintenance of the canals and drainage systems, directing the Urban Development Authority to devise a plan that includes sustainable solutions for the improper disposal of waste and wastewater. The President also informed the relevant officials to submit the relevant plans promptly.
During the meeting, attention was also drawn to address the issue of improper waste disposal by enhancing the active involvement of Police Environmental Protection Division and Community Committees.
Minister of Urban Development, Construction and Housing Anura Karunathilaka, Governor of the Western Province Hanif Yusoof, the Chairman of the Urban Development Authority, the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation and senior officials of relevant institutions were present at the meeting.
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Committee formed under Presidential Secretariat to investigate irregularities at SriLankan Airlines
President Anura Kumara Disanayake has instructed relevant authorities to establish a committee under the Presidential Secretariat to investigate allegations of corruption and mismanagement at SriLankan Airlines.
The directive was issued during a four-hour meeting held on Tuesday (20) at the Presidential Secretariat, attended by the airline’s Board of Directors and representatives from all affiliated trade unions.
The discussions aimed to secure the collective commitment of stakeholders to uphold the government’s decision to retain state ownership of the airline, eliminate losses and steer it toward recovery. President Disanayake stressed that rebuilding SriLankan Airlines would be impossible without unified efforts, adding that the institution must develop its internal capacity to rebuild itself.
Asserting the government’s role as the political authority, the President reiterated its commitment to making “all necessary sacrifices” to rescue Sri Lanka from its economic crisis. He emphasised that reviving the national carrier is the shared responsibility of its entire workforce.
Highlighting the allocation of Rs. 20 billion from the budget for SriLankan Airlines, the President underscored the need for stringent fiscal accountability, noting that these funds, drawn from public taxes, must be utilised efficiently. He also welcomed the “positive trend” of April’s operational revenue surpassing targets.
New proposals have been presented by the Board of Directors to transform SriLankan Airlines, which operates under government ownership, into a profitable entity. In line with these proposals, the trade union representatives who participated in the discussions stated before the President that they would extend their full support to achieving these goals.
Key Attendees at the meeting included:. Sarath Ganegoda, Chairman of SriLankan Airlines and members of the Board of Directors, representatives from trade unions, including: Flight Attendants’ Union (FAU), the Airline Pilots’ Guild of Sri Lanka (ALPGSL), the Association of Licensed Aircraft Engineers (ALAE), the SriLankan Airlines Aircraft Technicians’ Association (SLAATA), and the Sri Lanka Nidhahas Sewaka Sangamaya (SLNSS), the Inter-Company Employees’ Union (ICEU) and the SriLankan Airlines Executive Association (EASLA).
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