Plantations that do not pay their workers the newly stipulated minimum wage of Rs. 1700 will be reacquired by the government, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara said.

The Minister made these comments while addressing an event held in Elpitiya on Sunday.

The government’s decision to raise the wages of plantation workers must be implemented by all plantation employers from next month, the Minister said.

Acknowledging that tea smallholders are already paying more than the minimum wage to their workers, the Minister said that the wage issue remains with local plantation companies that have been transferred to the private sector from the government.

The Minister said that President Ranil Wickremesinghe has made the decision in the Cabinet to prepare a bill to take over the estate companies that do not implement the minimum wage.