Sri Lanka Presidential Polls: 'We Are Not Slaves,' Tea Pickers Mobilise Vote Amid Persistent Exploitation And Hardships
Date
9/11/2024 1:25:25 AM
(MENAFN- Live Mint) The backbone of the economy, Sri Lanka 's tea pickers are determined to use their powerful vote to choose a president this month who will change grim working conditions for good.
Tea pickers largely voted as a bloc in past polls and the support of the estimated one million people working directly or indirectly in the industry will be critical in the tightly fought September 21 polls.
“Nothing has been done for us,” said 42-year-old tea picker K. Jesmina, who shares a small and basic two-room home without running water with 10 family members.
"We hope at least after this election, we will get some help," Jesmina added, noting her family shares a toilet with 115 other households.
Tea is the main export of Sri Lanka, the second largest supplier of black tea to the international market according to the United Nations' agriculture agency (FAO).
In a bankrupt nation still reeling from a 2022 economic crisis and unrest that ousted strongman president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the $1.3 billion tea exports are vital foreign income.
The aromatic“Ceylon Tea”, known by the island's colonial-era name, is celebrated as among the finest in the world.
Also Read: Go on a tour of tea farms in Sri Lanka
But behind the picturesque plantations are conditions that experts say border on modern-day slavery.
All three front-running candidates -- President Ranil Wickremesinghe , opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka -- have promised to address tea pickers' longstanding demand for better housing.
The pickers' main political party, the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), are backing the incumbent Wickremesinghe.
He has promised workers freehold land rights and support for pickers to build their own homes.
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