Cabinet nod to amend Tea, Rubber, Coconut Estates (Control of Fragmentation) Act

The Cabinet of Ministers at its meeting on Monday approved taking measures to amend the Tea, Rubber and Coconut Estate (Control of Fragmentation) Act.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Finance Minister presented a proposal in the 2023 budget to limit land fragmentation by allowing only coconut land of one acre or less to be divided. 

“The division and selling of land allocated for export crops will adversely impact the foreign exchange earnings. Hence, it was decided to amend the existing legislation,” Cabinet Co-Spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardena said at the post-Cabinet meeting media briefing yesterday.

The proposal to this effect submitted by Plantation Industries Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.