The government is to wind up the Ministry of Resettlement from next year and vest the remaining responsibility in the hands of the respective Government Agents. The decision, the Sunday Times learns, has been made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Two leading plantation associations have urged the government to prevent Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) politicians from disrupting the plantation sector by initiating worker unrest. The move came after CWC Provincial Minister Senthil Thondaman prompted the workers to stage a ‘go-slow’ campaign in the Central and Uva regions disrupting tea production during the week.