Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2017-08-15

Amendments to the Tea, Rubber and Coconut Estates (Control of Fragmentation) Act, No.2 of 1958

•- The Tea, Rubber and Coconut Estates (Control of Fragmentation) Act, No.2 of 1958 was enacted with the objective of controlling the fragmentation of the coconut lands not less than 4 hectares in extent and tea and rubber lands not less than 20 hectares in extent. According to the provisions in the Act, the Certificate of Consent issued by the Tea, Rubber and Coconut Estates (Control of Fragmentation) Board should be obtained when fragmenting such lands or when such lands are transferred as a single unit.

It is a timely requirement to have some flexibility in using these lands for various large scale projects. Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Navin Dissanayake, the Minister of Plantation Industries, to amend the Tea, Rubber and Coconut Estates (Control of Fragmentation) Act, No.2 of 1958 incorporating provision to reduce the limit for fragmentation or transfer of coconut lands as a single unit to 02 hectares (05 Acres) and the limit for fragmentation or transfer of tea and rubber lands as a single unit to 08 hectares (20 Acres), was approved by the Cabinet.