Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) leader Mano Ganesan yesterday rejected the government’s Cabinet memo, titled “Establishment of New Settlement Villages in the Plantation Sector”. In a meeting with the President, Ganesan and his fellow MPs submitted a six-point alternative proposals.
“President Ranil Wickremesinghe invited the TPA to discuss his Cabinet memo, “Establishment of New Settlement Villages in the Plantation Sector”. We welcome any move, in principle, to de-link the lives of plantation workers from the modern slavery they are subjected to by the plantation employers. However, just renaming 200-year-old British built “line rooms” as “villages” is not a solution,” he said.
Ganesan said there is no point in keeping the plantation workers isolated “in the hills.” They, too, must be resettled in areas close to human settlements, which will allow them to integrate into the mainstream.