“Sad to see Laxapana tea factory destroyed by a fire”
The tragic loss of the Laxapana Tea Factory nearly a month ago by fire, be it by an electrical mishap or even arson, as suggested by some press reports, truly upset me even more than I had anticipated. A few sleepless nights followed, despite my leaving Laxapana some 54 years ago. I have therefore decided to put down on paper some interesting facts which many people may not know about and would be of interest to others.
I had no knowledge of the plans of the impending construction of the Mousakelle Reservoir and dam until I came over to Laxapana Estate in December 1961 as an Assistant Superintendent to C. W. Bond, the Manager of the estate.
File picture of the tea factory
A year or so later, Mr. Bond wanted me to take the minimum and maximum temperatures from three different sites he had chosen before he decided on a suitable site for the construction of the new factory on Laxapana Estate. This was done on a daily basis and after a year or so, Mr. Bond chose what he felt was the most suitable site. This was on a hillock on Valamalai Division. I remember quite well that the site was cut by the use of a bulldozer at a cost of nearly Rs. 50,000.
The years went by, Mr Bond retired and his successor Mervyn Pelly too decided to do likewise following a 28 day strike by the labour force prior to his leaving on three months furlough. I acted for him during this period. He returned to the estate three months later and decided to retire too. I was then offered the position as Manager in March 1965.
I should mention that with the construction of the Mousakelle reservoir and dam, seven tea factories, including that on Laxapana, were lost plus the town of Maskeliya; Laxapana also lost approximately 175 acres of tea, the Manager’s bungalow, the Factory, the Office plus the living quarters of all the Office Staff, Factory Staff, Maternity Ward and some labour units as well. New buildings were constructed in close proximity to the new factory and a site was also selected for the Manager’s Bungalow. All this work was being done while the new factory was being constructed. Fortunately, a retired Engineer was employed to overlook the construction of the factory while all other buildings were my responsibility, as Manager at the young age of just 30 years,
I would like to focus on the factory and the problems my excellent Factory Officer and I were faced with. As the company was paid compensation for the buildings and acreage lost due to the flooding, pressure was put on me to hand over the old factory as soon as possible, We therefore had to commence manufacture in the new factory despite it not being equipped with all the machinery. A glowing example were the troughs. Only seven of the 14 troughs were functional when we commenced manufacture which was itself a huge problem. It took us some time to obtain an even wither as we had to experiment with the positioning of the vents, which we found most important to obtain an even flow of air. We had never used rotorvanes in the past and there was a great deal to learn about this new machine.
By example, do we use a Froral End Plate or an Iris End Plate? Do we use one, two or three reverse vanes, and in which position? After several weeks of trial we decided on the Floral end Plate and followed by the reverse vane in the 7th position. We also used an Orthodox Roller first, followed by one pass through the rotorvane and the orthodox roller twice thereafter. The next problem was the new Fermentation Unit which we had neither seen nor used before. After weeks of experimenting we decided to have the dhools fermented on tables. These were just a few of the problems we were faced with, while our Head Office required excellent results from day one. Apart from our Tea Department, there were the buyers who awaited with baited breath to judge the new tea being manufactured and being ever critical.
Prices took a hit but once we mastered the managing of the new machinery, prices slowly but surely improved, so much so that we were obtaining some of the best prices in the district. I have a letter in my files, dated 6th March 1969, congratulating me for the sale price obtained for an Invoice of BOP Fannings which was sold for Rs 5.05. The letter was accompanied with two bottles of Scotch Whisky as a token of the company’s appreciation. With increased yields and a low cost of production my staff too shared some of the benefits, receiving annual bonus’ exceeding what what many Superintendent’s in the district obtained.
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