HomeTea - What of its Future?
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Tea - What of its Future?
Sun Nov 09, 2014 5:36 am
by A C B Pethiyagoda
The most disturbing , distressing and sorrowful news in the last few days after the Koslanda earthslip tragedy was on page I of the Financial Review of The Island of 3 November. It said: "Sri Lanka’s tea is in its death spiral due to higher cost of production and wages and needs more value addition, marketing and branding to uplift the industry to its former glory …" This is no surprise to those who were, or are, connected with the industry because the decline was coming from the 1950s when it was thought that replanting with clonal tea at about 3% of the extent of the planted acreage of the old seedling tea should be undertaken and completed each year.
That target was, I believe, never achieved in any single year while labour wages were increased annually or perhaps even more often with absolutely no increase in productivity, while inputs of practically everything went up including mostly cost of labour welfare. There is absolutely no complaint about expenditure on labour welfare. In fact if more was spent on this item of expenditure in every plantation, the industry would have been doing right. What went wrong was that costs went up and productivity remained unaltered or decreased. Even that could have been accepted but labour became more and more undisciplined and labour union leaders either could not correct them or they even encouraged the indiscipline to remain in their salaried posts.
The fault was due to labour unions as long as they demanded more and more and gave back less and less. It is appropriate to quote from my article in this newspaper of 9 June 2011. "What of the future? Many tea growing countries in the world are expanding their areas under cultivation and still others are entering the market. If we are to remain competitive, replanting with clonal tea at a far greater pace than at present comes first; perhaps through legislation if attractive inducements fail. Our costs of production are said to be about the highest, and productivity lowest in the world. Thus crops must increase and necessary wage increases must correspond to productivity. If not, it’s kaput for labour union leaders and their membership first. The next would be their indulgent political leadership which cannot think beyond the next election; and eventually the country itself. There will be no industry to celebrate a second century in 2067 if this act cannot be put together NOW."
Labour should have been paid even better and looked after if they had played their part with a greater sense of responsibility and accountability. It is not the simple Ramasamy or his wife Ramai who is thought of but the union leaders who are paid salaries according to the collections from contributions made by their member workers on tea estates. Their incomes they made sure of with the then government ensuring labour contributions were deducted at estate level and sent to union headquarters in what was called ‘check off’.
It is estimated that about one million people in this country are directly or indirectly connected with the tea industry, about 40,000 are small holders producing approximately 1.5 million kilos of made tea. Tea touches the life of every man and woman in this island as a beverage. The poorer classes among our people, children included, drink tea to assuage hunger throughout the day. Tea is also the second or third highest foreign exchange earner for the country with which we pay for our essential imports like petroleum, rice, food stuffs etc.
Clearly we are faced with a major financial and social crisis of immense proportions which will affect practically every Sri Lankan. This calls for the immediate attention of the highest in the land; so also the most junior estate worker. Stake holders in this massive task should be rewarded in tangible ways as today even politicians yell when an opportunity is lost to make a fast buck. We can postpone for the time being filling the sea around Colombo, extending existing harbours, or changing the Constitution until the tea industry is placed on a strong, economic footing as it was in the past.
www.island.lk
The most disturbing , distressing and sorrowful news in the last few days after the Koslanda earthslip tragedy was on page I of the Financial Review of The Island of 3 November. It said: "Sri Lanka’s tea is in its death spiral due to higher cost of production and wages and needs more value addition, marketing and branding to uplift the industry to its former glory …" This is no surprise to those who were, or are, connected with the industry because the decline was coming from the 1950s when it was thought that replanting with clonal tea at about 3% of the extent of the planted acreage of the old seedling tea should be undertaken and completed each year.
That target was, I believe, never achieved in any single year while labour wages were increased annually or perhaps even more often with absolutely no increase in productivity, while inputs of practically everything went up including mostly cost of labour welfare. There is absolutely no complaint about expenditure on labour welfare. In fact if more was spent on this item of expenditure in every plantation, the industry would have been doing right. What went wrong was that costs went up and productivity remained unaltered or decreased. Even that could have been accepted but labour became more and more undisciplined and labour union leaders either could not correct them or they even encouraged the indiscipline to remain in their salaried posts.
The fault was due to labour unions as long as they demanded more and more and gave back less and less. It is appropriate to quote from my article in this newspaper of 9 June 2011. "What of the future? Many tea growing countries in the world are expanding their areas under cultivation and still others are entering the market. If we are to remain competitive, replanting with clonal tea at a far greater pace than at present comes first; perhaps through legislation if attractive inducements fail. Our costs of production are said to be about the highest, and productivity lowest in the world. Thus crops must increase and necessary wage increases must correspond to productivity. If not, it’s kaput for labour union leaders and their membership first. The next would be their indulgent political leadership which cannot think beyond the next election; and eventually the country itself. There will be no industry to celebrate a second century in 2067 if this act cannot be put together NOW."
Labour should have been paid even better and looked after if they had played their part with a greater sense of responsibility and accountability. It is not the simple Ramasamy or his wife Ramai who is thought of but the union leaders who are paid salaries according to the collections from contributions made by their member workers on tea estates. Their incomes they made sure of with the then government ensuring labour contributions were deducted at estate level and sent to union headquarters in what was called ‘check off’.
It is estimated that about one million people in this country are directly or indirectly connected with the tea industry, about 40,000 are small holders producing approximately 1.5 million kilos of made tea. Tea touches the life of every man and woman in this island as a beverage. The poorer classes among our people, children included, drink tea to assuage hunger throughout the day. Tea is also the second or third highest foreign exchange earner for the country with which we pay for our essential imports like petroleum, rice, food stuffs etc.
Clearly we are faced with a major financial and social crisis of immense proportions which will affect practically every Sri Lankan. This calls for the immediate attention of the highest in the land; so also the most junior estate worker. Stake holders in this massive task should be rewarded in tangible ways as today even politicians yell when an opportunity is lost to make a fast buck. We can postpone for the time being filling the sea around Colombo, extending existing harbours, or changing the Constitution until the tea industry is placed on a strong, economic footing as it was in the past.
www.island.lk
Hawk Eye- Posts : 428
Join date : 2014-03-11
Re: Tea - What of its Future?
Sun Nov 09, 2014 7:54 pm
Float the exchange rate..Tea industry will get boosted
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