Committee to look into tea estate issues

Dharma Sri Abeyratne

A committee has been appointed under Plantation Industries Minister D.M. Jayaratne's direction to look into issues in Government owned tea estates leased to private companies.

This was revealed at a press briefing at the Plantation Ministry on Thursday where the first committee meeting was held.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed the Committee following Minister Jayaratne submitting a Cabinet paper seeking approval for the committee, chaired by Neville Piyadigama.

The committee will also look into other issues in the plantation sector such as labour problems, infrastructure development, upgrading the lifestyle of labourers and increasing profitability by increasing efficiency.