That all important pinch

By Kumudini Hettiarachchi

Even the fringes of the marshy pools, which lie cheek by jowl with the long road leading to Tissamaharama, have 'snow' piling up. The gusty wind has a tang. Then it strikes one. It's not snow in the distance, it's salt. Mounds and mounds of simple salt we take so much for granted in our daily lives.

Yes, Hambantota is home to the 'maha lewaya' (main saltern) and its neighbours Bundala and Palatupana to the sub-salterns. Now run by Lanka Salt Limited, the annual target of the main saltern is about 65,000 metric tons, with Bundala producing about 15,000 tons and Palatupana 10,000. "Making salt is a simple process if the conditions are right," says Chemical Engineer V. Balachandran giving up his off day to take us around the saltern. However, the art lies in getting salt without impurities. 

Workers in the factory

Why is Hambantota the best place to make salt? The factors which make life difficult for the thousands of men, women and children attempting to eke out a living from this harsh land are the ideal conditions for the production of salt. Low rainfall, high solar radiation (strong sunlight) and clay soil to prevent percolation of water. A good labour force is also a must. 

The seawater used in the making of salt should not have any atmospheric pollution. Flat ground is also essential, says Mr. Balachandran. From one million gallons of sea brine, 100 metric tons of salt can be produced. The density of the brine pumped from the sea increases due to solar radiation and wind action, with crystallization (solids being formed) occurring fraction by fraction. The brine is sent through several stages, out in the open in large areas like fields. In the first 'reservoir' stage, ion oxide and calcium carbonate get deposited and in the second 'condenser' stage, gypsum or calcium sulphate (this by-product is sent to the cement factory) deposits are formed. Then the high density brine is sent to the fore basin, with the final stage, 'crystallisation' seeing the formation of common salt or sodium chloride.

What is left, 'bitterns' or mother liquor is pumped back to the sea. If the conditions are right, the whole process takes about three weeks, explains Mr. Balachandran. 

For the humble folk of Hambantota, the salt industry is their rice and curry. In many families, scattered around the saltern, both husband and wife work here. This is the right job for G.A. Siromi, 24, mother of a five-year-old daughter. "The rains don't come. We are unable to do any cultivations for lack of water," says Siromi who works at the 'lewaya' with her husband. 

The breaking of crystallized salt is done by the women, says Salt Officer P. Sumathipala who has spent practically all his life at the saltern. Of his 52 years, he has worked here for 34. "When they pile the salt in 'atti' or mounds the men carry them in 'thachchis' to the tractors for loading. The tractors bring the salt to the factory and dump it in heaps and it is washed to rid it of impurities and dried. And only after that is it taken into the factory.' He reminisces how in the olden days the whole process depended on backbreaking human labour. Now it is mechanized, reducing the toil. 

After the salt is dried, it is loaded onto something like a mat's slide for the spraying of that all-important iodine, which prevents diseases caused by iodine deficiency such as goitre. 

M. Subadra, 33, cooks for her three schoolgoing children, after walking many miles and bringing a few pots of water home. Then she makes her way to the saltern to work the afternoon shift. 'It is convenient for me to do this job, because I can also see to the needs of my family," she says, while filling salt into one-kilo sachets. 

There is a mix of men and women working in the airy and clean factory, which is full of light. Boards hung on the walls stress the importance of keeping the factory clean and everyone who walks in has to take off their footwear and get into factory slippers. 

Mr. Balachandran adds that salt production in Sri Lanka is quite advanced and has kept up with world trends. "The iodization of salt was begun in 1988 and intensified in 1993 with UNICEF aid. In December 1999, the salt produced here got the Sri Lanka Standards mark and in December 2000 we received ISO 9000 certification. We have also been commended by the International Council for Controlling Iodine Deficiency Disorders and Sri Lanka is the only country in Southeast Asia to be thus recognised."

So the next time you say, "Pass the salt" and sprinkle it on your food, spare a thought for the large workforce down in Hambantota who bring this simple flavour enhancer to our tables. How bland our food would be without that pinch of salt.