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Brick producers in woes due to scanty material at high prices
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Pix and text by K.L. Walter Perera
Thousands of persons engaged in the brick producing industry are facing a crisis with the increase of cost of production and lack of raw material.
Along the Maha oya river, specially in areas like Kochchikade,Madampella,Badalgama and Divulapitiya, the production of bricks is a major source of self-employment.
Many have been in the industry for years, some even a lifetime, and it helps unemployed youths to earn a living. Many poor families depend entirely on this industry for their livelihood.
Normally there is a great demand for engineering bricks, which are 20.5cm × 7.5cm×9.5 cm in size keeping with the standards of the National Building Research Organisation. The producers say however that now the size has been reduced to 8″×2″×4 1/2. ” due to the soring prices and the scarcity of raw materials.
Nishantha Udesh Kumar (32) of Udangawa in Kochchikade said that among the issues they are facing are the high prices of clay. “A cube of clay is about Rs. 9000 and we can make only 1000 bricks with that. We also have to pay Rs 150000 a year as tax to get the permit to transport clay”, he added..
“In the recent past, due to heavy rains and floods the clay got washed away. We lost about Rs 300 000. No one came to our aid. There is no scheme to help us” Nishantha said.
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