News
Planters call Jeevan Thondaman to account for running amok
View(s):By Kasun Warakapitiya
Between April 10 and June 1, four complaints have been filed over the incidents.Inquiries are continuing with the first complaint made on April 10, the police said.
Police Media Spokesman and DIG Crimes, Nihal Thalduwa, told the Sunday Times that the Nuwara Eliya police investigating the Pedro estate incident have yet to obtain a statement from Mr. Thondaman.
The police claim that Mr. Thondaman, who had been overseas, had only recently returned to Sri Lanka and had not been able to record statements.
The police also called for advice from senior officials before taking action in the case involving the cabinet minister.
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- Scenes that broke out after a group accompanying Mr. Thondaman stormed into Pedro Estate’s tea factory. Pix by R.F.M.Suhel
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- The meeting held at the District Secretariat by the assistant labour commissioner
The first incident was in April, when a backhoe operator (service provider) was confronted in an inappropriate manner by three workers (thalaivars) while the operator was preparing a field for coffee planting at the Uda Radella estate.
The Planters Association Statement said the three employees had allegedly threatened the backhoe operator with bodily harm, arson, and damaging machinery used for the clearing of the land, and interrupted the work.
The incident occurred against the backdrop of the KVPL Plc management decision in 2020 to plant coffee on a part of the estate as it is deemed more profitable. Five and a half hectares of the Uda Radella Estate under KVPL were planted. The decision had been taken to deal with labour shortages. Unproductive tea bushes were being replaced with coffee plants.
Following the incident, the three workers were suspended pending an inquiry. A police complaint was made by the manager of Uda Radella Estate. However, this resulted in a strike at the same estate on April 29.
A meeting was called on May 30 at the District Secretariat by the assistant labour commissioner. The KVPL management, trade unions, and about 30 Uda Radella estate workers attended the meeting, which began at 11 a.m. Minister Thondaman also attended the meeting.
The unions demanded the three workers be reinstated to stop the strike. They had been suspended due to the Uda Radella incident. The KVPL management said reinstatement would be done only if they faced an inquiry and proved their innocence. The meeting ended without a resolution.
In a statement, the Planters Association said that once the meeting held at the District Secretariat concluded, the estate management team, including the chief executive officer, the general manager, and the estate manager, was threatened with violence, while a worker attempted to assault the CEO in the presence of Mr. Thondaman. This occurred when the management team was leaving the building.
The management team re-entered the district secretariat, informed the assistant labour commissioner of the incident, and requested security from the police. Thereafter, 20 policemen, including an ASP, escorted the management team to the police station, and a complaint was made.
Thereafter, the CEO and the estate management team went to the Pedro estate at Kandapola around 3:00 p.m. on the same day.
There, the KVPL workers faced a hostage situation as a large group accompanying Mr. Thondaman stormed into Pedro Estate’s tea factory, allegedly disrupted work, verbally abused employees, chased factory workers out of the premises, and forcibly detained KVPL’s CEO and other officials, the Planters Association said.
The statement claims that they were harassed, held against their will, and threatened with violence. The statement also claims threats and intimidation took place. Thereafter, the KVPL management team reluctantly agreed to Mr. Thondaman’s demands to reinstate the suspended workers.
The Chief Executive Officer, Anura Weerakoon, told the Sunday Times that they were able to leave the estate with the police Special Task Force and police protection after reluctantly agreeing to reinstate the three workers.
“We were able to leave Nuwara Eliya town around 8:30 p.m. with a police escort. We were not in a position to complain about the incident at Nuwara Eliya police on the same day as we felt it was not safe for us,” he said.
He had made a complaint about the Pedro incident at Maradana Police on May 31. Other members of the KVPL management who faced the Pedro incident made a complaint on Saturday, June 1 at the Nuwara Eliya police.
On the same day, Mr. Thondaman protested in front of the police station, where a complaint was filed by the management over his behaviour and the hostage situation they faced, allegedly threatening the senior staff of the estate.
Mr. Thondaman spent more than an hour in front of the Headquarters Inspector’s Office in Nuwara Eliya, arguing and challenging the police to arrest him.
Mr. Thondaman later left the premises as the CWC members claimed the management had withdrawn the complaint. However, the management did not withdraw the complaint.
Meanwhile, Mr. Weeerakoon denied the previous allegation made by Mr. Thondaman in a statement that the estate management forcibly removed the pottu (a dot placed between the eyebrows worn by women) and jewellery of estate workers.
He said detachable pottu and jewellery are not permitted within the tea plantation in keeping with food safety regulations. He added that since the tea manufacturing area is ISO-certified, the rule is a standard to be complied with.
As per the Tea Board circular, all registered tea manufacturers must be certified with HACCP as the minimum requirement, effective 2020. As per the HACCP and ISO 22000:2018 Food Safety Management System guidelines, certified tea processing centres must establish sufficient control measures to eliminate all possible physical, chemical, and biological hazards within the physical boundary of the certification.
The plantation community said it is demanding a speedy resolution of what they called ‘unlawful and criminal behaviour’’.
Mr. Thondaman, contacted by the Sunday Times, declined to respond to allegations by the Planters Association and related incidents.
| Thondaman takes to X to respond to the Sunday Times Water Supply and Estate Infrastructure Development Minister Jeevan Thondaman, reacting to the Sunday Times report last week, posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) defending his intervention at the Pedro estate in Nuwara Eliya and his actions thereafter. He claimed it was important that he clarify “the facts and correct the false narrative being portrayed by your newspaper.” He said that as the General Secretary of the Ceylon Workers Congress, it is his duty to stand up for the rights and welfare of plantation workers. He said he intervened at Pedro estate in response to legitimate grievances raised by the workers, which included the company’s refusal to pay the legal minimum wage of Rs. 1700 per day, managers forcefully removing the red pottus and jewellery of Tamil women workers and the replacement of tea bushes with coffee plants without proper consultation. He said he intervened He said he went to the police station on June 1 to file his own complaint against the Pedro estate management and the abuse of police power the previous day. “The Sunday Times’ allegation that I laid ‘siege’ to the police is a lie. Publicly available video evidence is very clear that my conversation with the police He claimed he had already subjected himself to a Mr. Thonadaman said he categorically denies having apologised to Public Security Minister Tiran Alles, as reported in the Sunday Times. He said he had a “respectful conversation“ with the minister and clarified with him what happened. The Sunday Times contacted Minister Thondaman to seek clarification on a series of allegations made by the Planters Association, but he declined to respond to the questions. | |
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