Foreign entity wants a bamboo biz on state plantation
A foreign firm has sent a proposal to the Ministry of Public Enterprise Development for a bamboo plantation at a suitable plantation owned by the Janatha Estate Development Board (JEDB) under this Ministry, official sources said.
“This is for a 500 acre land and the particular foreign party wants us to give them a proposal of a suitable land in this regard. We discussed with another government agency requesting them to send us details of a ‘fit’ land under the JEDB which they sent recently. We are studying this now,” a source told the Business Times.
The ministry is in the process of restructuring key State Owned Enterprises (SOE). The source pointed out that the plantations sector is thoroughly mismanaged to the extent that some worker statutory payments haven’t been paid.
He said that several investors – both local and foreign have approached his ministry for investment in projects at state owned plantations involving dairy, new crops, tourism, etc. “Cargills for an example is interested in a dairy project and we have already identified it under the JEDB.” He added that in all these proposals pertaining to the plantation sector, the state is eyeing the project on a total leasehold basis or will claim an equity stake.