Refuse Tea conspiracy in Sri Lanka – An industry now – a huge racket with too many stakeholders

I have pointed out in this blog, how the actions and inactions of this Regime in Sri Lanka has ruined every aspect of our lives, that will destroy much of what is Sri Lanka. Ironically the perpetrators are doing it using the easily marketed word of patriots, by fooling the populace and being none other than traitors.

Any society must realize that it is always the leadership that the people follow, and if they are engaged in treachery so will all those down the line. I have covered, illegal sand mining, illegal rock blasting, illegal artifact digging, illegal medicinal tree felling and smuggling of endangered plants and plant material overseas, illegal tree felling on a mass scale, illegal false invoiced importation, both resulting in huge losses of customs duties and unfair advantage against law abiding legitimate business who play by the rules, inferior/ harmful products being dumped in Sri Lanka, the illegal import of banned chemicals in making various pesticides that have aggravated the NCP Kidney Disease. The state bureaucracy is fully engaged in this racket with many elected politicians and government servants making big money in every aspect of the above at the expense of the Country and its people – all acts of treachery.

All of the above have increased thousand fold in this government due to the method by which the politicians administer the system of government. Illegal money making is king as people firmly believe to become rich one MUST grease the palms of public servants and politicians, and perform an illegal trade!

Another to add to this is the REFUSE TEA TRADE. Refuse Tea is the tea that for many reasons a byproduct of tea production MUST BE DESTROYED as it will otherwise adulterate CEYLON TEA and make our unique produce worthless. The rules for each Tea Factory are clear, on how to document and destroy this tea. The tea should be added back to the soil as part of the compost or soil conditioning. The Tea Board also has checks on how this is done and audits etc. all to no avail.

It is now becoming a huge where there is a whole industry of people engaged in all aspects, buying tea for a value, tea maker in the factory, the manager of the factory, and even the supervisor in charge of making sure his workers plough it back into the soil are all part of this activity. When they earn an additional income from this, they will do anything to falsify documents and claim the tea is destroyed.

This tea then ends up in clandestine factories, where it is processed and then using all sorts of means in connivance with the bureaucrats, get exported as Pure Ceylon Tea. It is OK if this tea is consumed locally and thereby disappears into the system. When it is exported it becomes a problem as the quality of Ceylon Tea is compromised, and sometimes harmful chemicals are also added to refuse tea to preserve appearance and taste, making matters worse.

The periodic raids, and catching of lorries with refuse tea, is just the TIP OF THE ICEBURG. We are given a false sense of security that this problem is under control. IT IS FIRMLY NOT. Only 1% is caught with 99% getting exported with pure profits of over Rs 10B to the mafia of these exporters.

Like I mentioned, there are thousands of people in the food chain who benefit from this and that is why I call it a separate industry that operates under the radar. If I am questioned by the CID regarding this matter, you can be assured that 9 times out of 10 he would be an officer with connections to the trade, who profits from it one way or another. So when a traitor in the name of the CID questions someone who wishes to point out actions against the state, one can just imagine how ingrained the level of treachery is against this country. They are people who will sell their mothers for a few bucks!

Just like the list of crimes referred to at the beginning, none of the big fish in the game are prosecuted, as they are either the Government or obtain protection from the Government or elected officials, and the law enforcement authorities. In a police state such as Sri Lanka, all criminal activity is part and parcel of this self same clique. I wish someone with the courage to take on this mafia, will do so, as otherwise the whole Tea Industry in Sri Lanka will go the way of the Coffee Blight! Unless we stop this, and it is easy to do so with good certification and honest customs officials, as it is something that HAS to happen at the export end as it ends in containers headed for foreign parts. If that can be caught and the exporters incarcerated, then the whole food chain can be stopped.

There is NO point appealing to a corrupt administration, the only recourse I believe is to the Tea Trade to take out full page ads in all papers informing the people of this problem and the threat to the tea industry, together with an appeal to the Government to stop this. When consulted, they fear doing so because they do not wish to open a can of worms, in case the importing countries believe ALL our tea is tainted, and thus inform the world of this. The Refuse Mafia knows this dilemma and are cashing on big time due to this fear. Tea Trade you have NO TIME LEFT.

If any reader has a better suggestion, please let me know and more importantly let the tea trade know of how to eviscerate our Tea Industry from this Cancer!! Please.