Ramgarh Correspondent :
Out of the 17 tea gardens in Phatikchari, 16, joined the work, but only the workers of the Ramgarh garden did not join the work even for 17 days. As a result, green tea leaves worth about tk 2 crore were wasted in the trees due to the stoppage of tea leaf collection from the garden during this busy season.
A part from this, the garden authorities claim that there has been a loss of about tk half a crore in other cases. Workers strike started in 167 gardens of the country including 21 gardens of Chittagong from last 9 August to demand Tk 300 wages.
On August 23, the workers of 14 plantations in Phatikchari and on August 24, the workers of the remaining Kaichara and Nauu Dattamar plantations joined the work on August 25.
But today (August 26) even after 17 days, the workers of Ramgarh tea garden have not joined the work. The Panchayat leaders of garden are not listening to requests from government and private sectors including Fatikchari Upazila Chairman, Upazila Nrbahi Officer and local UP Chairman to return to work. For 17 consecutive days without plucking the leaves in the garden, it has become tall like a weed. The leaves of the tea tree have become big and hard. The root bud has matured. As per the rules, each section of the tea garden is picked in turn for seven consecutive days. In the meantime, leaf lifting has fallen behind. According to the garden authorities, due to the work stoppage during this full season of tea, about 3 lakh 91 thousand kg of green tea leaves were not collected in the last 17 days at an average rate of 23 thousand kg per day. As a result, this leaf is destroyed in the tree itself. According to the relevant sources, 4 kg of 500 grams of green tea leaves make one kg of maid tea. As a result, 87 thousand 975 kg of maid tea is made from 3 lakh 91 thousand kg of green tea leaves. According to the auction market price, the price of one kg of tea is Tk 220. As a result, tk 1 crore 93 lakh 54 thousand 500 worth of tea was wasted in 17 days. In this, the government lost about tk 29 lakhs of VAT revenue.
Senior Manager of Ramgarh Tea Garden Md. Joynal Abedin said that there was a super bumper production of tea this year. But because of the strike it was all over. The garden was irreparably damaged. He said, ‘The leaves of the trees have grown a lot because the garden was closed for 17 days.
They can no longer be picked up by hand. Besides, these leaves will not make good tea. In order to produce quality tea, we have to wait for the top leaves of the plant to be pruned. When the new buds come, they will be the raw material for making tea. But if you wait until then, the season will be over. He said, the tea season is calculated from April to December. Among them, August, September and October are three months of full season. Almost four months of August were spent on strike.
There will be no tea season to make up for this August loss. Harmful insects have also invaded the garden due to lack of maintenance. Apart from the loss of green tea leaves, other areas of the garden also suffered extensive damage.
Baganbazar UP Chairman Shahadat Hossain Saju said that he himself and Fatikchari Upazila Chairman, Upazila Nirbahi Officer have requested workers from different quarters to go to work. But they are not listening to anyone.
Chittagong Valley Chairman of Bangladesh Tea Workers Union Niranjan Nath Montu said, they have also requested the workers of Ramgarh garden to join the work. The labor leaders of Ramgarh tea garden said that they will not join the work without 300 wages.
