Plantaion sector is facing massive challenges and we cannot hold government responsible as the decline of the relevant commodities prices like tea, rubber and palm is beyond the control of the Sri Lankan government.
Yet the sheer madness of Yahapalana ministers like calling to handover the estates from current owners to foreign investors, cutting subsidies and taking petrol cans into parliament to run a live show to increase workers wages add fuel to the fire...
RPC chairman's speech is worthy noting here..
And the source is not Lanka C news as some are allergic to sources... The source I quote now belongs to Wijeya Publishers...Anyway once again I like to note that it is not who owns the media house but the authenticity of the news that matters...
Source :
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]===================================
Retorting to these claims Planters Association Chairman Roshan Rajadurai pointed out the Government is already managing 36 estates in which the statutory liability collectively adds up to Rs. 3.6 billion per annum in 2014 without accounting for gratuity liability. Most of these factories have even been deprived of electricity due to late payments, according to the Chairman -
Rajadurai further went on to say: “The minister may have told to just handover the estates but he should understand that these are all public listed companies. The shareholders will eventually make a call and there will be a due process to hand it over to the Government. These are now private legal entities and they have borrowed from local banks, and other agencies. Adding to that gratuity liabilities in a good size company will be over Rs. 2 billion. So the Government must be prepared to take over all this liabilities.”
Government sector plantations managed by the Sri Lanka State Plantations Corporation (SLSPC) and JEDB (Janatha Estate Development Board) were leased out to 23 Regional Plantations Companies (RPC)during the period 1992-1994. At the same time government entered into management agreements with some private sector companies to manage a few regional plantation companies. Kurunegala Plantations Limited and Chilaw Plantations Limited are among a few of them -
Moreover Rajadurai stated that at the time the estates were privatised the State sector was incurring a loss of Rs.1.3 billion and a debt of Rs. 7 billion which they converted to equity, whereas the Treasury was burdened Rs. 5 billion annually for operational expenses. -
He elaborated that such comments made by the Minister will send out wrong signals to the shareholders at large with regard to future investments.
“Since it was leased to us we have invested Rs. 55 billion annually to develop our estates if one wants they can compare our plantations to the Government owned companies in the tea industry. Our shareholders and the Board of Directors will decide what to do and the Government has to make a call. This is of course a very bad signal because the companies will think twice before exposing themselves to more borrowing in order to invest.”
For the past 20 months combined debt of the tea and rubber plantation companies has amounted to around Rs. 4 billion primarily due to the price drop in the market. This year the signs are that it will top Rs. 6 billion, Daily FT learns.
Rajadurai also rejected claims made by the Minister that the companies were hiding profits pointing out as public listed companies they were bound to maintain strict corporate governance regulations and insisting they were open for scrutiny
» CCS.N0000 ( Ceylon Cold Stores)
» Sri Lanka plans to allow tourists from August, no mandatory quarantine
» When Will It Be Safe To Invest In The Stock Market Again?
» Dividend Announcements
» MAINTENANCE NOTICE / නඩත්තු දැනුම්දීම
» ඩොලර් මිලියනයක මුදල් සම්මානයක් සහ “ෆීල්ඩ්ස් පදක්කම” පිළිගැනීම ප්රතික්ෂේප කළ ගණිතඥයා
» SEYB.N0000 (Seylan Bank PLC)
» Here's what blind prophet Baba Vanga predicted for 2016 and beyond: It's not good
» The Korean Way !
» In the Meantime Within Our Shores!
» What is Known as Dementia?
» SRI LANKA TELECOM PLC (SLTL.N0000)
» THE LANKA HOSPITALS CORPORATION PLC (LHCL.N0000)
» Equinox ( වසන්ත විෂුවය ) !
» COMB.N0000 (Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC)
» REXP.N0000 (Richard Pieris Exports PLC)
» RICH.N0000 (Richard Pieris and Company PLC)
» Do You Have Computer Vision Syndrome?
» LAXAPANA BATTERIES PLC (LITE.N0000)
» What a Bank Run ?
» 104 Technical trading experiments by HUNTER
» GLAS.N0000 (Piramal Glass Ceylon PLC)
» Cboe Volatility Index
» AHPL.N0000
» TJL.N0000 (Tee Jey Lanka PLC.)
» CTBL.N0000 ( CEYLON TEA BROKERS PLC)
» COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC (COMD. N.0000))
» Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency
» CSD.N0000 (Seylan Developments PLC)
» PLC.N0000 (People's Leasing and Finance PLC)
» Bakery Products ?
» NTB.N0000 (Nations Trust Bank PLC)
» Going South
» When Seagulls Follow the Trawler
» Re-activating
» අපි තමයි හොඳටම කරේ !
» මේ අර් බුධය කිසිසේත්ම මා විසින් නිර්මාණය කල එකක් නොවේ
» SAMP.N0000 (Sampath Bank PLC)
» APLA.N0000 (ACL Plastics PLC)
» AVOID FALLING INTO ALLURING WEEKEND FAMILY PACKAGES.
» Banks, Finance & Insurance Sector Chart
» VPEL.N0000 (Vallibel Power Erathna PLC)
» DEADLY COCKTAIL OF ISLAND MENTALITY AND PARANOID PERSONALITY DISORDER MIX.
» WATA - Watawala
» KFP.N0000(Keels Food Products PLC)
» Capital Trust Broker in difficulty?
» IS PIRATING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY A BOON OR BANE?
» What Industry Would You Choose to Focus?
» Should I Stick Around, or Should I Follow Others' Lead?