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Sri Lankan tea workers demand land and education rights

Presidential candidates urged to improve conditions for those living in poverty on tea estates
Sri Lankan tea workers demand land and education rights

Sri Lankan tea workers protest for better wages and living conditions. (Photo supplied)

Published: November 11, 2019 03:53 AM GMT
Updated: November 11, 2019 03:53 AM GMT

Sri Lankan tea workers are calling on presidential candidates to respect their land and education rights.

The workers are almost all Tamils descended from those brought to Sri Lanka from India by the British in the 1820s to provide cheap labor on tea estates. About 52 percent of tea workers are women.

Directly and indirectly, over one million workers face many problems including land and education rights and having no national identity cards or birth certificates.

S.T. Ganeshalingam, coordinator of the Movement for Plantation People’s Land Rights (MPPLR), is calling for the provision of clear title deeds for about 37,000 houses constructed under different housing schemes since 1993.

"Each household should be given a recognized address. Immediate action should be taken to resettle plantation communities living in areas that are declared as landslide hazard zones by the government," said Ganeshalingam, who met presidential candidates on Nov. 7.

Sri Lanka holds a presidential election on Nov. 16 and a record 35 candidates have filed nominations. Among the candidates are two Buddhist monks, four Muslims, two Tamils and one female.

Ganeshalingam and his team leaders urged candidates to establish a Hill Country University focused on plantation management.

"We need an effective government mechanism to run a program with qualified teachers, a common syllabus and suitable infrastructure facilities," he said.

"Halt the fragmentation and selling or leasing of land and capital assets to private parties and individuals.

"It is very important to stop the use of highly poisonous pesticides to protect the environment and water sources.

"Enhance the basic daily wage [for tea workers] to a level of a living wage minimum of 1,000 rupees (US$6) per day for 2020 and review it annually.”

Members of the Movement for Plantation People’s Land Rights hand their demands to presidential candidate Ven. Battaramulle Seelaratne Thera from political party Jana Setha Peramuna. (Photo supplied)

Health hazards

Tea pickers are on their feet all day with heavy baskets on their backs, often on uneven terrain and in harsh weather conditions. They are often exposed to pesticides and insecticides, which the International Labour Organization cites as one of the major health and safety hazards tea workers face.

They work six to eight hours per day, six to seven days per week. They are also expected to work without tea and lunch breaks.

Sri Lanka is the world's fourth largest producer of tea and the industry is one of the country’s biggest cash crops of foreign exchange, but families working on tea estates are among the homeless and living conditions are poor. Nearly 200 privately owned tea estates operate in the country.

Kalaivani Jeyaram, a 54-year-old tea picker, said it is her dream to buy land.

"My mother and sister are tea pluckers. My father works here in the tea factory. We all are in line rooms," said Jeyaram.

"Nobody cares whether those working in the estates have human feelings such as hunger, tiredness and a need for leisure."

Her room has no electricity or running water. Her kitchen roof consists of sheets of corrugated iron weighed down with stones.

Sri Lankan tea is exported to Russia, Pakistan, Hong Kong, the UK, Germany and the Middle East.

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