Ceylon Tea Houses loses Rs. 1 million monthly
The Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) run tea shop at the Race Course shopping mall has been allegedly running at losses amounting around Rs.1 million monthly.
In this regard, board officials have been tasked with preparing a board paper and appointing a board committee to review the tea shop run by the SLTB, the board’s new Chairman Gamini Wijayaratne said in an interview with the Business Times. He noted that they would want to review it since the shop was running at a loss at present as this was funded by the Tea Board.
Mr. Wijayaratne said however, they would not be able to halt the project immediately since they had signedagreements with the Urban Development Authority (UDA) for the building premises and SriLankan Catering that was managing it.
Former Tea Board Chairperson Janaki Kurrupu, in a media release last week, said among her achievements was the ‘historical’ launch of the tea shop or lounge. The tea shop, a first, was established with the aim of promoting tea drinking and providing a space for travelers visiting Sri Lanka to taste Ceylon tea for which the country was famous for.
The Ceylon Tea Houses launch was to be carried out through the use of Rs.3 billion from the development fund under the SLTB used for the conduct of promotional and marketing activities.