Ceylon Planters’ Society seeks urgent action to resolve plantation crisis

The Ceylon Planters’ Society said this week the serious shortage of fuel and electricity is hampering daily operations and activities in the plantations.

In a statement, the Society said there is need to maintain a sufficient stock of fuel to balance both transport and power generation needs to carry out the production.

Further, the plantations require clear communication on the availability of power along with the schedule power cut arrangements being announced with adequate notice.

It said some estates are unable to use their generators during power outages because of the lack of diesel. To add to this, fuel shortages are affecting the ability to transport green leaves to factories in time.

This crisis, if not resolved immediately, will place the entire industry at risk.

“Sri Lanka tea has always maintained a high level of confidence of producing best quality pure Sri Lanka tea among our buyers and if our buyers start losing confidence in us and move to other competing markets, getting them back will be extremely challenging,” it said.