{"id":154418,"date":"2026-01-31T16:50:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T23:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=154418"},"modified":"2026-01-31T16:50:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T23:50:28","slug":"unilevers-plantations-should-pay-reparations-for-ditwahs-destruction-of-the-highlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/01\/31\/unilevers-plantations-should-pay-reparations-for-ditwahs-destruction-of-the-highlands\/","title":{"rendered":"Unilever\u2019s Plantations Should Pay Reparations for Ditwah\u2019s Destruction of the\u00a0Highlands"},"content":{"rendered":"

e-Con e-News<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

blog: eesrilanka.wordpress.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Before you study the economics, study the economists!<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

e-Con e-News 25-31 January 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The visitor to Devundara (Dondra) inevitably visits<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 the Vishnu Devale, the Buddhist vihara built<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Parakramabahu VI\u2026 Much less known is<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 the granite structure called Gal-ge or Galgane\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First discovered in 1914 by ER Ayrton, the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

building was declared an archaeological reserve<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in 1927\u2026 In Feb of 1587, the Portuguese<\/p>\n\n\n\n

destroyed this grand shrine completely,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

plundering the jewels & the valuables,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

building a church where the shrine was.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 ee Sovereignty<\/em><\/strong>, Gal-ge:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forgotten shrine to Lanka\u2019s guardian god<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shrine (to honor the Sinhala guardian deity Upulvan \u2013 not Vishnu, by the way) was destroyed in 1587 and a church built upon it. How then was it \u2019discovered<\/em><\/strong>\u2019 by a roving Englishman in 1914 (when he was in the midst of fighting another of their wars on the world)? Uncovered<\/strong>, may be? This verbiage of \u2018discovery<\/em><\/strong>\u2019, trite as it may seem to be blatantly reiterated in 2026, is flashed before our eyes by this week\u2019s Sunday Times <\/em>(see ee Sovereignty<\/em><\/strong>, Gal-ge: Forgotten Shrine). The Times<\/em> has not just cold blood but hot ink in their varicosed veins, and not only English whitewash. So how or why are they making such an egregious mistake about our own history in this moment of much babble about \u2018Education Reform<\/em>\u2019. Or is it a mistake? Access to ink does not ensure an open sluice to common sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The merchant media in Sri Lanka absolutely love a good diversion, and the inclusion of a US homo mating site in a proposed education curriculum<\/strong> has given them enough powder to use up all the ink, electronic & chemical, to blanket paper & screen. Lost in the controversy is need for a modern industrial curriculum<\/strong>, which alone can prepare us to face the rest of the 21st<\/sup> century. Lost also is identification of the main obstacles to realizing that goal. Lost then is the kidnapping of the education system by the USA\u2019s World Bank & the ADB<\/strong> (see ee Random Notes<\/em><\/strong>), aided by their bribing of Education Ministry officials & employees via junkets & jaunts to England, the USA & Japan, etc. Lost as well is the failure to understand the role education, and the prevention of it, plays in reproducing an unequal class system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Here is another enlightening scoop from the same Times <\/em>this week:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018For many in the international community, it was a moment<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of profound surprise<\/strong> \u2013 a realization that the US electorate<\/p>\n\n\n\n

was willing to break entirely from established political norms<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, when the US voter returned [US President Trump] to power<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for a 2nd<\/sup> term in 2024, that surprise transformed into a deeper,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

more resonant disbelief<\/strong>.\u2019 \u2013 Javid Yusuf (ee Politics<\/em><\/strong>, Trump phenomenon,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the Sri Lankan parallel & the responsibility of the American people)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why \u2018disbelief<\/em>\u2019? Liberals, like this disbelieving<\/em> columnist (from a so-called \u2018minority\u2019 community) usually love to blubber about the USA & Europe being models of freedom to quickly emulate. Yet for those with eyes to see, and ears to hear, and a brain to smell a dead rat, it has always been very easy for the USA & Europe to \u2018break entirely from established political norms?\u2019 If and when they need to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The USA\u2019s bottom-line \u2018norms<\/em>\u2019 derive from their unapologetic genocide of the original owners of that so-called New<\/em> World<\/em><\/strong>. It then profited intensely from the enslaved chattel slavery for their plantations (from whence its \u2018human resources\u2019 policies were imposed on us!). They did not share with us the intricate mechanisms of modern machine-making industry & capitalist wage slavery. But their more \u2018established\u2019 norms have always included the \u2018divine right\u2019 of these colonial settlers (regardless of their rulers being of Republican or Democratic Party vintage) to invade our & other countries at will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The clamour for so-called \u2018minority\u2019 rights, actually originates in the demand by the \u2018minority\u2019 English invading Sri Lanka & India: to have \u2018equal\u2019 rights over the majority they chose to oppress & exploit. (Once they wipe out the original majority peoples, of course, there is little dribble about minority rights). In the US, the constitutional 14th<\/sup> amendment that reluctantly declared \u2018negroes\u2019 as \u2018humans\u2019 \u2013 actually as \u2018persons\u2019 \u2013 was passed only to also declare corporations as \u2018legal persons\u2019 too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     In Sri Lanka, the rights of \u2018minorities\u2019 were provided to enable the continuation post-1948 of colonial rule by merchants, \u2018to represent important interests which were not represented or inadequately represented in the House\u2019 especially over the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     As for that disbelieving columnist Yusuf, this disbeliever as usual only uses his \u2018disbelief\u2019 to divert to his (& other liberals\u2019) favorite theme of abolishing the executive presidency in Sri Lanka (though they never call for abolishing corporate Chief Executive<\/em> Officers \u00ad\u2013 CEOs):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Perhaps the most alarming aspect of these developments<\/p>\n\n\n\n

is the apparent inability of the US governance system to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

restrain the executive<\/strong>. The US Constitution was designed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

with a system of \u2018checks & balances,\u2019 yet the 2nd<\/sup> Trump<\/p>\n\n\n\n

term has demonstrated that these checks are only<\/p>\n\n\n\n

as strong as the individuals who uphold them.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phew!<\/em> It is not about \u2018individuals\u2019 but the collective forces, the classes, behind political actors<\/strong>. This dear liberal should really check his history books at the door. The US Constitution<\/em>, from its very beginnings, was primarily concerned with preserving chattel slavery!<\/strong> Instead, mythologies are freely disseminated by our so-called \u2018minority\u2019 liberals. These are also promoted by other petty merchants, including lawyers. Look at these claims, again in the Sunday Times<\/em>, about \u2018English justice\u2019 & \u2018free speech\u2019, especially in their colonies, where justice is still politically & economically prioritized for white settlers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018In South Africa, prosecutorial decisions are regularly reviewed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for their rationality<\/strong> & legality<\/strong>\u2026 I say this as a liberal proponent<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of contempt of court laws & abiding fully by the standard set in<\/p>\n\n\n\n

modern jurisdictions that, as well put by courts in England, there<\/p>\n\n\n\n

must not be \u2018gagging of bona fide public discussion of controversial<\/p>\n\n\n\n

matters of general public interest\u2019.\u2019 \u2013 see ee Security<\/em><\/strong>, An Office<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of a Director of Public Prosecutions independent of AG\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These columnists appear to be clearly ignorant of recent legal rulings in England, Europe & the USA (which are \u2018legally\u2019 suppressing speech & repressing demonstrations against the slaughter in Palestine, or the kidnapping of migrants). Their jurisprudence is always contingent on the political & economic priorities of their rulers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018US President Trump \u2013 despite deep differences with<\/p>\n\n\n\n

most western allies \u2013 framed western power & prosperity as<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the product of a shared & \u2018very special\u2019 culture<\/strong>, which he<\/p>\n\n\n\n

argued must be defended & strengthened. The emphasis on<\/p>\n\n\n\n

cultural inheritance<\/strong>, rather than shared rules or institutions<\/strong>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

underscored how far the language of the old order has shifted.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M Moragoda (see ee Sovereignty<\/strong><\/em>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India, middle powers & the emerging global order)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moragoda Mahattaya, founder of the Pathfinder Foundation, a recipient of the beneficence of the Rockefeller dynasty\u2019s oil-sucking Exxon Corp, cannot bring himself to address what this \u2018very special\u2019 \u2018culture\u2019 the US President is dog-whistling or helpfully trying to pry open our eyes to: white supremacism<\/strong>. Moragoda calls it a \u2018shift<\/em><\/strong>\u2019. As for the so-called \u2018deep differences\u2019 that Moragoda divines, he may be in for another surprise aka discovery<\/strong>. Now, what does this tell us about our so-called \u2018thought leaders\u2019? They are yet to \u2018discover\u2019 ourselves or our enemies:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018If you know the enemy & know yourself,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you need not fear the result of 100 battles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every<\/p>\n\n\n\n

victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you<\/p>\n\n\n\n

know neither the enemy nor yourself,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you will succumb in every battle.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Sun Tzu, The Art of War<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as the US amasses another \u2018big, beautiful\u2019 armada to attack Iran<\/strong>, again using stolen Diego Garcia<\/strong> as an attack base, the US Embassy in Sri Lanka last week claims it \u2018welcomed\u2019 once again the Montana National Guard<\/strong> to assess damage following Cyclone Ditwah. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in November 2025 with Sri Lanka\u2019s Ministry of Defence formalized \u2018cooperation under the US Department of War\u2019s State Partnership Program\u2019. We are thus moved to examine the extents of this enemy we are confronted with today in Sri Lanka and the seas we claim to own around us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The Trump Administration & its NATO allies are clear:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They will escalate their war against Russia at sea, deploying<\/p>\n\n\n\n

their navies to enforce trade blockades<\/strong>, ship sabotage<\/strong> &<\/p>\n\n\n\n

seizures<\/strong>, & the closure of sea lanes<\/strong>, & to launch<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018pre-emptive\u2019 attacks before their targets can defend<\/p>\n\n\n\n

themselves. This is sea war to achieve regime change on<\/p>\n\n\n\n

land. Trump\u2019s current targets are Iran, Venezuela, Cuba,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia, North Korea, China, & India<\/strong>. Secretary of State<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Rubio told a Senate Committee hearing on Wednesday<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that if these targets attempt to deter the US escalation by<\/p>\n\n\n\n

raising their guard, the US Navy will shoot first<\/strong>.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 John Helmer (ee Sovereignty<\/em><\/strong>, Trump\u2019s Global Sea War<\/p>\n\n\n\n

is the New Strategy for Regime Change)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This of course is not new. The US President\u2019s blabber last week about England being \u2018stupid\u2019 for handing back nominal ownership of the Chagos Atoll (Diego Garcia), made sure that the media made no reference to England \u2018leasing\u2019 the base to the USA for the next 00 years. When England and their effusive choirs & tenured professors claimed \u2018post-coloniality\u2019 they forgot to note: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018British Overseas Territories (BOTs) are 14 territories<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that maintain a constitutional or historically recognized<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[imperialist<\/strong>\u2013 ee<\/em><\/strong>] link to England & constitute part of its<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sovereign territory<\/strong>, yet lie outside the English Islands \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

these include Anguilla, Bermuda, The British Antarctic<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Territory<\/strong>, The British Indian Ocean Territory<\/em><\/strong>, British Virgin<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie & Oeno Islands, Saint Helena,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ascension & Tristan Da Cunha, South Georgia & the South<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sandwich Islands, Cyprus (Akrotiri & Dhekelia) & the Turks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

& Caicos Islands. These territories are remnants of the former<\/p>\n\n\n\n

English Empire, which remain under English sovereignty.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 see ee Sovereignty<\/em><\/strong>, British Overseas Territories<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, the English, even while their choirs & professors sang loudly about \u2018free trade\u2019, have continued to bawl out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Britain first at Heav\u2019n\u2019s command<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arose, arose from out the azure main<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was the charter, the charter of the land<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

& guardian angels sang this strain<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rule, Britannia! Britannia rule the waves<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Britons never, never, never will be slaves<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Rule Britannia! 1740<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This bellicose anthem, played & sung by colonial forces (including the US) when Japan surrendered in Singapore in 1945, is struck aloud, annually at least, by the BBC. Note: ee<\/em><\/strong> does not use the words \u2018Britain<\/em>\u2019, great or not, nor \u2018United Kingdom<\/em>\u2019 \u2013 we always use \u2018England<\/strong>\u2019, and \u2018English<\/strong>\u2019, for that is the source & language of their power \u2013 not Celtic or Gaelic or Welsh which their immediate fiefs claim to also pronounce. Their principal institutions refer to a Bank of England<\/strong>, & Church of England<\/strong>. And then there is the USA\u2019s Marines\u2019 Hymn<\/em>. ee<\/em><\/strong> always refers to this settler colony as the \u2018USA<\/strong>\u2019, not \u2018America<\/em>\u2019 or even the \u2018US\u2019 as a noun (not us<\/em>). In their hymn, Montezuma<\/em>, the name of the Aztec leader killed by the Spanish, refers to the US War that stole parts of Mexico in 1847. And \u2018Tripoli\u2019 refers to the US wars on North Africa (1801-15) to avoid paying tariffs on the US opium trade from Turkey to China, an opium which created the USA\u2019s first \u2018millionaires\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018From the Halls of Montezuma<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to the shores of Tripoli;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We fight our country\u2019s battles<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in the air, on land, and sea;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First to fight for right & freedom<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

& to keep our honor clean;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are proud to claim the title<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of United States Marine.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 The Marines\u2019 Hymn, 1867<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018To fight for right & freedom\u2019 to enslave others & sell opium? Which brings us to the USA\u2019s National Defense Strategy 2026<\/em> unveiled last week:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Among these expansions will be for the US to \u2018erect\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

new military installations in close proximity to China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Per the jargon of NatSec Speak, this means establishing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018strong denial defense<\/strong>\u2019 in the \u20181st<\/sup> Island Chain<\/strong>\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

which may sound like a modestly-sized region to the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

unschooled reader, but actually encompasses Japan,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

the Philippines, Taiwan<\/strong>, & perhaps a smattering of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

other places like Vietnam<\/strong> & Malaysia<\/strong>, depending on<\/p>\n\n\n\n

what the cockamamie Grand Strategists decide to theorize<\/p>\n\n\n\n

& war-game next\u2026 On top of \u2018deepening\u2019 US military<\/p>\n\n\n\n

involvement in West Asia, so as to \u2018enable integration<\/p>\n\n\n\n

between Israel<\/strong> & our Arabian Gulf<\/strong> partners\u2019.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Michael Tracey(ee Sovereignty<\/em><\/strong>, A note on the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ridiculous 2026 \u2018National Defense Strategy\u2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, the English are now the slaves of the USA! And the USA seeks to rule the waves along with them! And their guardian angels \u2013 the polluted MSM (mainstream media), & flunkies \u2013 strain to sing along:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Canada 2022 Indo-Pacific Policy (IPP) belligerently allocated<\/p>\n\n\n\n

$500mn in military spending in the region. The number of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canadian frigates assigned to the waters off the Chinese coast<\/p>\n\n\n\n

will increase from 2 to 3. China considers sailings through the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taiwan Strait to be provocations & in violation of its territorial<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sovereignty but Canada routinely sails there alongside US warships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canadian foreign policy is in lockstep with the US in its hegemonic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

design to threaten & contain China.\u2019 \u2013 William Dere & Wawa Li,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 ee Sovereignty<\/strong><\/em>, Chinese Canadians Organize for Democratic Rights<\/p>\n\n\n\n

& Against Modern Exclusion<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the Canadians & their de jure English overlords have changed their minds? Like a World Wrestling Federation tag team, taking over from their thumper Don Trump, the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney <\/strong>& the English PM Keir Starmer have both coming knocking on China\u2019s door. The media has also been lighting fireworks about Carney\u2019s supposedly \u2018historic\u2019 thunderbolt at the World Economic Forum in Davos<\/strong>. Charith Gunawardena & Kanishka Goonewardena (G&G) however urge Sri Lankans to be cautious (strategic & tactical) about decoding any \u2018roadmap for reform\u2019 in Carney\u2019s words. G&G see an urgent need to \u2018manage the destructive consequences of policies dictated by our creditors<\/strong>\u2019 (which includes Canada), asserting \u2018it would be na\u00efve to trust global political-economic business as usual\u2019 (see ee Focus<\/em><\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The speech by Carney (Canada\u2019s \u2018Governor<\/em>\u2019 as the US President refers to him) ignores the structural injustices of the imperialist system. G&G notes his speech is directed at the supposed \u2018middle powers\u2019: Europe, etc. These \u2018powers\u2019 have certainly not been in the \u2018middle\u2019 when it comes to us; they remain (pick one: \u2018flunky\u2019, \u2018running dog\u2019, \u2018lackey\u2019, \u2018poodle\u2019) accessories to major international crimes. This includes the stealing of Venezuela\u2019s gold reserves \u2013 when Carney was Bank of England governor <\/strong>\u2013 and Canada\u2019s role in the kidnapping of both Venezuelan President Maduro, as well as Haiti\u2019s President Bernard Aristide in 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Europe<\/strong> (to be precise, Germany, England & France) have actively pushed the IMF programs<\/strong> that \u2018limit policy autonomy in our economies while preserving advantages for multinational corporations (MNCs) & advanced industrial states\u2019. G&G instead highlight the need for policies that would \u2018prioritise value addition, food & energy security, import substitution<\/strong> &, above all<\/em>\u2026 industrial<\/em> development<\/strong>\u2019 (see ee Focus<\/em><\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Our media remain insistently blind to how the white settler states (US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) have become leading political economies in the world. Unravelling the roots of underdevelopment, SBD de Silva in 1982 classified the world into 3 parts: the states of new settlement<\/strong> (the genocidaire states<\/strong> led by the US, etc), settler-colonial states<\/strong> (largely led by the old European thugs) & non-settler colonial states <\/strong>(like ours), come into sharper focus with each passing day. Of course there are powerful exceptions to this division of the world, but much of the world is still colonized, and the USA\u2019s & Europe\u2019s tactics to besiege those who refuse to submit to their dictat, grow deadlier\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     This ee Focus<\/em><\/strong> concludes <\/em>Chapter 6<\/strong> of our reproduction of SBD de Silva<\/strong>\u2019s classic The<\/em> Political Economy of Underdevelopment. <\/em>Here de Silva examines the differences (USA, Canada etc vs Sri Lanka, India) in the treatment of workers. In the non-settler colonies like Sri Lanka, unable to decimate the local population, colonial government officials had to project a semblance of justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     In settler states, however, government officials openly colluded with local investors against the indigenous people. Officials acquired property and political interests and even opposed the metropolitan government. White officials even insisted they be treated as indigenous<\/em>, opposing attempts to regulate the conditions of labor, and attempts to improve African farming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     De Silva also detailed how \u2018the problem of a labour supply in different socio-historical situations\u2019 was  \u2018solved in different ways<\/strong>\u2019. In the settler colonies, the settlers\u2019 need for labor was linked to the officials\u2019 needs for revenues; labour had to be \u2018extracted by dismantling traditional economic structures \u2013 through taxation, land expropriation and by outright coercion\u2019. In French West Africa, people were forced to \u2018grow cotton (for export to France) under the threat of imprisonment if the quality was indifferent or the quantity insufficient\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     De Silva also pointed to the different roles the export sector<\/strong> was made to play. In Sri Lanka, Malaysia & India, the export sector was based on plantations. In Sri Lanka & Malaysia, they chose to import Indian & Chinese workers. In Myanmar (Burma), Thailand & West Africa, the export sector was peasant-based and expanded beyond the home market. In Sri Lanka, the English impoverished the peasant economy, & prevented rural industrialization:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Unable to effectively utilize the available number of labourers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

nor could it in the absence of organizational or technological<\/p>\n\n\n\n

changes release labour to other sectors of production (This<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018irrationality\u2019 was largely due to the nature of labour demand<\/p>\n\n\n\n

& supply. The timing of labour requirements in grain<\/p>\n\n\n\n

cultivation based on monsoonal rains was both uneven &<\/p>\n\n\n\n

erratic, & the resulting variations in the demand for labour<\/p>\n\n\n\n

were aggravated by a maldistribution in the supply,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

intra-seasonally, inter-regionally, & even between<\/p>\n\n\n\n

holdings in the same district).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Silva added: \u2018Settler agriculture was less labour intensive than either plantations or peasant-based cereal crops.\u2019 Foreign absentee investors in non-settler states focused on the plantations, and the colonials formed an enclave. He also recorded the destruction of the ancient village administration (the self-governing gamsabhava), as well as the environment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018In Sri Lanka, there was a loss of village pasture land,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

& a denudation of forests which caused soil erosion<\/p>\n\n\n\n

& the silting up of water courses & paddy fields.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 The media & plantation mafia<\/strong> have been working overtime to hide the<\/strong> culpability of the plantation system in the recent disaster<\/strong>. We cannot expect them to admit to the role that the plantations & the import-export fraud have played in the overall underdevelopment of the economy<\/strong>,as SBD de Silva has analyzed. The tea plantation mafia own the media. Instead, this mafia have poured out good unreported rupees to publish fine & glossy \u2018coffee-table\u2019 volumes on the wonders<\/em> that the over-150 years of plantations have bestowed upon us! As for the recent flooding, at first the plantation owners denied they had been affected at all (see ee<\/em><\/strong> 26 Dec 2025). Then news \u2018leaked\u2019 out that workers had been very much affected, particularly due to the peculiar architecture of estates that values capital equipment over labor \u2018resources\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Our attention was recently drawn (by Former Secretary to PM Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Sudath Gunasekara, see ee<\/em><\/strong> 24 Jan 2026) to how, midst the general lament about \u2018Malaiyaha\u2019 Tamil workers, the landlessness & reduction to beggary of the evicted Kandyans has been studiously ignored, since 1948. Gunasekara referred to an 1894 Kelani Valley Railway Commission Report<\/em><\/strong> by the English, to estimate the cost of a railway and the profits that could be obtained, which had then noted the \u2018recurrence of high floods\u2019 & \u2018allegations\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Navigation of this river is yearly becoming more difficult<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) on account of the floods being more sudden & of higher<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

volume<\/strong>, owing to the denudation of the slopes of its upper reaches<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

through the opening of new tea estates<\/strong>; 2) on account of the detritus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

swept down from these newly-opened lands<\/strong>, which has filled up<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

many of the deep reaches<\/strong>, & has formed sandbanks in the<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

navigable channels<\/strong>; & 3) on account of the rapid drainage into<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

the basin of the Kelani<\/strong>, which, while causing high floods during<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

the heavy rains<\/strong>, has reduced the ordinary low water level<\/strong>.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 see ee Random Notes<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, these allegations were partially refuted by an English tea planter (of that infamous colonial Byrde family) who \u2018owned\u2019 800 acres, even as he did not discount the possibility that it would get worse\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     This week, 131 years later, saw the government call to \u2018vacate housing above 5,000 feet\u2019. Rather than recall our own history, written in blood & tears, the President<\/strong>, rather ironically had to refer to a recent survey report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB)<\/strong>, which he said, provided \u2018a stark picture of the past, present & future of the Central Highlands<\/strong>: erosion is so severe that only exposed rock remains<\/strong>. Many reservoirs<\/strong> in the hill country risk being filled with silt & mud<\/strong>. The soil layers have become<\/em> extremely thin.<\/strong>\u2019 Soil is the most effective natural medium for storing water. \u2018Healthy land absorbs rainfall, retains it, & then releases it gradually<\/strong>, forming streams, springs, waterfalls, and eventually rivers that sustain both people & agriculture across the island. This natural process is now under threat. All 103 major rivers & tributaries in Sri Lanka originate<\/strong> from the highlands<\/strong>. From the hilltops, water flows outward, supporting life in distant regions far removed from the mountains themselves. For this reason, protecting the Central Highlands is absolutely critical<\/em><\/strong>.\u2019 Well, let\u2019s see what England\u2019s Unilever<\/strong> Corporation \u2013 direct descendant of Lever Brothers & Lipton\u2019s, etc \u2013 its innumerable MSME fronts, and the rest of the plantation mafia<\/strong>, have to say about all this\u2026 Unilever will of course claim it has spun off its plantations \u2013 but they still control them remotely though other means. Will they pay reparations?<\/em><\/strong> Will the ADB cover it all up? (see ee Random Notes<\/em><\/strong>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_________<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contents:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Unilever\u2019s Plantations Should Pay Reparations for Ditwah\u2019s Destruction of the Highlands<\/a><\/blockquote>