Web of Life

An Adjournment Motion was moved in Parliament yesterday (6) by Kalutara District parliamentarian Piyasiri Wijenayake (UPFA) to cancel the BOI licence given to a foreign industry which is manufacturing MDF board using rubber wood as raw material, brought out facts about the heavy use of rubber wood in contravention of the agreement to replant rubber for use in the making of MDF boards.Wijenayake said the industry was located in Horana and used large amounts of rubber wood which were shredded and turned into boards. The management of the industry which had agreed to plant 500 hectares of rubber yearly to replace the wood used according to an agreement with the BOI has not been honoured. The use of large amounts of rubber wood posed a threat not only to the rubber plantation industry but also to the tea industry which used rubber wood as fuel in tea factories, while the rubber plantations in Kalutara, Galle and Ratnapura districts two were threatened due to this industry which uses rubber wood from 5 hectares each day.Wijenayake said there was objections from the rubber small holders and rubber planters of the Kalutara district to this industry continuing its operations without growing the rubber needed for it for the past few years. He called upon the government to stop this industry from continuing its present methods of manufacture.Rohitha Bogollagama (UNP) Kurunegala district, said that it was found that the industry in question was given a licence by the BOI in 1997 during the former PA regime but went into operations in 2001. The industry was not a manpower intensive one but employed only 20 odd employees at the Horana factory. Though 50 percent of its product was exported and 50 percent sold in the local market, it appeared that there were some secret clauses in the agreement with the BOI. This could not be understood as there should be transparency in any agreement between any investor or industry and the BOI.Sarath Ranawaka (UNP) Kalutara District, said the company in question was one which had been operating in Malaysia but the Malaysian government had asked the company to leave the country. Earlier the same company had opened a second factory at Bulathsinhala in the Kalutara district but strong public protests had forced the company to close down. Though it was true the industry earned foreign exchange to the country the threat to the rubber and tea industries was a matter that could not be overlooked. Therefore the government should take steps to save the local rubber and tea industries which supported a large percentage of people including small holders.Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Minister of Plantation Industry, replying on behalf of the government said the policy of the government was to grow more trees than to cut down existing trees. This applied to the rubber and tea plantations as well. This industry manufacturing MDF boards was started when the rubber prices had fallen to very low levels and might have been approved on considering the plight of the rubber plantation industry. But the rubber industry has improved today with improved prices for rubber and the government has decided to quicken the rubber replantation scheme as well as grow another 9000 hectares of rubber in the Moneragala District too. However since the manufactured MDF boards were also used in local small industries generating employment to a large number of people while earning foreign exchange, the Minister said he would discuss the matter with the Ministry of Industries