Call for the restructuring of the Palmyra Development Board

The toddy tapping community in the Jaffna district feel it is high time the Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa came forward to reorganize the Palmyra Development Board, and relocate back in the Jaffna district and bring it back to its earlier glory.

Palmyra is identified with the down-trodden in the Jaffna Peninsula and it is the duty of the Government to restructure the Board at the earliest for the welfare of the thousands whose life revolves around Palmyra, they feel.

All these years due to various factors the Palmyra development suffered growth, but after the civil war, when the expectation grew the government would do something to improve the village industry, the toddy tapping community especially in Jaffna, Mannar and Kilinochchi districts became sore with the UPFA government for not taking any action to revive the Palmyra development .

There are thousands still involved in toddy tapping and their live hood revolve round the sale of toddy, as well as sweet toddy, and other products.

After the Palmyra Board came under the ministry headed by R.M. Dharmadasa Banda, there was a steep decline in its activities. It is said the Board is on the verge of being closed. The last chairman who tendered his resignation when the Government ordered all the Chairmen of the Boards to do so, is now meeting the staffs of the Board and members and threatening them to sign a memorandum to the President of Sri Lanka to reappoint him as the Chairman of the Board again.

Unfortunately, due to the protracted ethnic conflict, when the activities of the Palmayra Board was brought to Colombo, and subsequently, for some reason or other the subject of Palmayra Development was brought under R.M. Dharmadasa Banda, Minister of Supplementary Crops Development.

He had brought in his nephews and his close relatives as Chairman and Board members, who have earlier never seen a Palmyra palm in their life time. Thus the very concept of the organization of Palmyra Development Board was killed.

The first Palmayra Development Board was formed under Srimavo Bandaranaika’s Government, to develop the Palmyra-based products and to benefit the livelihood of about 500,000 people, whose lives revolved around the palm, which is called ‘Katpaka Tharu’ – a tree in heaven which is said to yield whatever ones desires. Sri Lanka: Northern Katpaka Tharu - Palmyara palm becomes a victim of ministerial whims.

The Palmyra Development Board was formed under Act No. 46 of the Coconut Development Law of 1971 and Amendment No: 24 of the Coconut Development Act of 1975 and Coconut Development Act No 40 of 2003.

Accordingly it was very clearly stated that the “Principal Place of Business” was Jaffna. It was therefore decided that the Head Office of the Board to be set up in Jaffna and Board members are to be Tamils and who have a good knowledge of the Palmayra.

There were more than 300,000 people whose life survival was based on the products of the Palmyara. These people are called the minority Tamils of Jaffna, who are considered a lesser caste people (Nalavasand Pallas) of the district, whose rights were trampled and their livelihood exploited for centuries by the upper class Tamils – the Tamil ‘govigamas’.

In the seventies, to bring about an upliftment in their life and to prevent exploitation, this writer along with many others thought a way out to make the lives of these under-privileged people economically stable. So the first Palm Products Co-operative Societies in Kaddaively, Karaveddy was organised.

And initially more than 1000 of those involved in the tapping of toddy and sweet toddy were roped in. And it was hailed as a revolutionary socialized organization for the economic upliftment of the most under-privileged people who were even denied the basic privileges by the Government of the country.

This writer was one of the pioneers in organizing the first Palm Products Co-operative Societies for the benefit of the people, whose survival depended on the Palmyra products. One of the initial co-operative society organized in Kaddaively, Vadamaradchy was first to produce jaggery scientifically out of the sweet toddy, by separating the lime that was excessively used to sweeten the toddy by the tapers.

In each of these Palm Product Co-operative societies there are about 2500 to 5000 members and it is estimated that there are more than 100,000 members.

In North, at present there are about 21 Palm Products Co-operative Societies and a federation for these 21 societies called Palm Products Co-operative Society Union.

According to K.Nadarajah, who was the Chairman of the Palmyra Development Board, who has now migrated to Australia, there are several thousands more members to be added, who are family members of the members of these co-operative societies.

Nadarajah was the Chairman of the Board for more than eight years in the eighties and undoubtedly it was described that during his chairmanship the Board attained its peak.

As one of its activities, earlier Plamayra Board was involved in the production of Palmyra Arrack and a had a traditional factory in Thickam, Point Pedro. Subsequently the Board’s Arrack distillery was taken over by Thickam Palmyra Distilleries Union which came directly under the Palmyra Board.

Thickam distilleries produced about 1500 to 2000 liters of low wine monthly.

For the production of arrack they used the fermented toddy, as well as carrot and other fruits abundantly available in Jaffna and fermenting and by a boiling process.

When describing about making of the arrack, J.Jeyakumar who has been an internal Auditor and advisor to number of Board Chairmen, told Asian Tribune that by mixing 1 litre of concentrated low wine sprit with 100 litres of water and by heating process, the Palmyra arrack is produced.

Jeyakumar said that earlier Palmyra Development Board had a special sales outlet in Colombo to sell these Palmyra Arrack, but it is closed down as the production odf the arrack has been halted.

He said that LTTE imposed a heavy tax for the production of arrack, and due to the interference of the LTTE and other armed cadres in the Jaffna district the production of Palmyra arrack remained halted.

The tapped toddy is sold for local consumption in the outlets of these societies - Taverns. Sweet toddy too is tapped for the manufacture of palm jaggery.

- Asian Tribune -