Better Life Style for Tea Plantation people.

“Safe Environment in Tea Estates” is a project implemented by SETIK in selected tea estates of the Matale District of Central Province. Under this project we were able to renovate and reconstruct the line rooms of the estates and provide them with better water and sanitation facilities. Meantime the beneficiaries were made more aware about how to uplift their life pattern with the present context. With the help of awareness, education and self employment training programmes we were able to help these marginalized tea plantation people to stand on their own.

We covered the estates of Rattotamale, Asgiriya, Nagala and Wewelmada under this project funded by the Catholic Relief Services of America. On 15th November 2008 the above mentioned facilities were handed over to the beneficiaries by Rev. Fr. George Sigamoney - the Director of Setik and Rev. Fr. Camillus Janz who were accorded a warm welcome by the people of the estate.

Mobile Programme in the Plantation Sector

Currently we are in a period of time when the National Identity card is most essential. Though the situation is such, still most of the plantation people are unable to obtain their identity cards due to various reasons. This problem is not only for their identity cards but also for birth certificates, death certificates and documents needed to recover their Employees provident and Employees trust funds. Taking this issue into consideration the Plantation unit of Setik together with the Ministry of Law and Justice Reforms organized a mobile camp on 1oth and 11th October 2008 at Talawakelle Sinhala Vidyalaya to collect the relevant documents from the plantation people to claim their identity cards, birth certificates, death certificates, etc.

Divisional Secretariat staff of Nuwara Eliya District and volunteers attached to Setik carried out prominent roles at this programme. There were over 8000 plantation people present there to obtain their certificates and documents. We are happy that we were able to obtain 750 birth certificates on the spot and the rest of the claims handed over to relevant authorities to obtain the required documents.