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Plantation Industries Minister Navin Dissanayake shakes hand with Ceylon Tea Traders Association Chairman Anselm Perera as Vice Chairman J Karunanaratne looks on at the CTTA Annual General Meeting held last week - Pic by Samantha Perera
By Charumini de Silva
A key tea industry stakeholder last week called for Government’s intervention to minimise delays in the settlement of recent flood insurance claims asserting that it will add interest to the already strained cash flows of exporters.
Appealing to the Plantation Industries Minister Navin Dissanayake, Colombo Tea Trader’s Association (CTTA) urged to intervene and direct banks to accommodate all affected parties with affordable rates of interest and a special line of credit for a reasonable period of time for pay back, until they revert to regular production and servicing of their customers.
“The twelve month period spanning April last year to March turned out to be a year of disaster and misfortune to all of us in the tea industry. Just a few weeks ago, we experienced some of the worst flooding that has ever experienced. The damage to stocks, machinery, equipment and property was unprecedented,” CTTA Chairman Anselm Perera told at the 122nd AGM held last Friday.
Stating that indispensable machinery of substantial value has been damaged significantly he requested that exporters should be assisted in procuring replacements urgently.
“The reputation, credibility and the image of the industry depends on this. Spare parts for machinery damaged and retrievable must be allowed free of NBT and AWPLR at time of import,” Perera suggested.
Pointing out that large stocks of water and humidity damaged teas will be rejected he said that the Chairman of the Tea Board has already assured that such teas will definitely be denatured.
“I appeal everyone not to encourage back door operators, who like vultures wait to profit through other’s misfortunes. Let us all not forget that tea is a food product and insurance companies must be directed that salvaged teas cannot be and must not be sold to these dubious dealers and instead should be destroyed without exception,” Perera stressed.
Noting that the last census of tea land was conducted way back in 2005 and current data available is inaccurate he said: “It is imperative that a fresh survey and a Tea Land Registration are undertaken immediately as calculations are not based on obsolete data. This is a national priority. A map of all tea plantations with estate names was available at the Government Survey Department in the past. Sadly, no such map is now available.”
He said the latest National Atlas, 2nd edition of 2007 only indicates the areas of tea and rubber lands, without reference to any estate names and thereby it is time such a map is made available.
