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Tensions rise in Kotagala as estate workers block main road
View(s):Tensions rose in Kotagala as police attempted to clear a group of estate workers who staged a protest opposite the Kotagala Pradeshiya Sabha yesterday.
Carrying black flags and banners, around 200 workers from the Drayton and Yuthernside estates in Kotagala staged a protest urging the return of their children who were staging a hunger strike in Colombo in support of the estate workers’ demand for a Rs. 1,000 daily wage.
The situation became tense when police attempted to disperse the protesters who were blocking the road. The protestors told reporters that they would not give up their struggle until they achieved their wage demand. They charged that politicians and the trade unionists, who had urged them to carry out the protest, were now silent after they received ministerial portfolios and other government perks.
The protestors added that their children were continuing a hunger strike over the past 10 days but to no avail. “We do not want a pay hike while holding the lives of our children to ransom,” the protestors said. They said they would resort to a fast-unto-death campaign if measures were not initiated to save their children. They explained that their children had staged a hunger strike as they could not bear the hardships faced by their families.
“Politicians have shown little concern to the plight of the estate community thereby forcing us to take to the streets. We cannot tolerate this any further,” a protester said. As a result of the demonstration, transport along the Hatton-Nuwara Eliya main road was brought to a standstill for about an hour.
Subsequently, negotiations with the police led to protesters clearing a path for vehicles to pass.