Services of 47 employees in Agalawatta Rubber Research Institute being permanent

The Ministry of Agriculture and Plantation Industries took steps to make the services of 30 of the 47 employees who worked at the Agalawatta Rubber Research Institute permanent, and to regularize the services of 17 others under the contract basis.

The appointment letter award program was held yesterday (10) afternoon at the Agalawatta Rubber Research Institute Auditorium. Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industry Mr. Mahinda Amaraweera, Secretary of the Ministry MR. Janaka Dharmakeerthi, Chairman of Rubber Research Institute MR. Sarath Chandrasiri Withana and others participated in this ceremony.

In addition, steps have been taken to appoint a new director for the Sri Lanka Rubber Research Institute, which was without a director for about 10 years.

Minister Mahinda Amaraweera who participated in this event-

The Rubber Research Institute has conducted a number of researches to increase rubber production. Among them, it was clear from the lectures given by the officials of this rubber research institute that they have introduced some of the highest yielding rubber species in the world.

Our country’s annual rubber production is 65,000 metric tons. I advised that a five-year action plan be prepared from 2024 to 2030 to expand this number to 100,000. Now that work is going on.

The quality of rubber produced in Sri Lanka is high among natural rubber. Therefore, there is a high demand for our rubber internationally.

We do not approve of the traditional cultivation of rubber in the lowland wet zone. Due to climate change, the rains have had a severe impact on rubber harvesting in the lowland wet zone.

Because of this, we have planned to expand rubber cultivation to areas like Monaragala, Ampara, Batticaloa, Vavuniya and Anuradhapura. Also, I request the experts in the field of rubber to give recommendations regarding suitable plantation crops to be grown as an under-crop in rubber cultivation.

I must mention something regarding the 47 employees who are receiving permanent appointments today. Although the government had decided not to expand the public service, the cabinet approved the proposal I submitted regarding these 47 employees.

Currently, there is a wave of strikes to disable the government. We know that everyone in the country is under a lot of pressure. A salary increase should be given to every employee. We accept it. But we have a bankrupt country. Who did that? There may be different opinions regarding what was said and why it happened.

But at this time it is not fair to strike for higher wages. We discussed this regard in the Cabinet also. The Secretary of the Ministry of Finance stated that in order to provide the salary increase requested by the government employees, the VAT must be increased by at least 22 percent to find the necessary money.

If the VAT is increased, the public will not be able to afford it. Therefore, I think that the demands made for this strike are not fair at this time.

However, the Minister also mentioned that the President announced in the Cabinet meeting that he will raise the salaries of government employees once again next year.

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