An American tea company, Walters Bay International, has threatened to leave Sri Lanka, following the murder of the estate manager in Nooriya Tea Estate in Deraniyagala, last Friday, reports BBC Sinhala.
The estate manager, Nihal Perara was hacked to death by 5 people who reportedly objected to Perara's attempts to fight corruption and wastage.
The Texas based company has complained to the Plantation Industries Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe that they cannot continue to run the estate under the present climate. Mahinda Samarasinghe also recently doubled up as Sri Lanka's Special Envoy to Geneva for Human Rights, at the time the most recently resolution was passed by the UN Human Rights Council.
According to the police, the five attackers were backed by a local politician.
ColomboPage reports that the former chairman of Deraniyagala Pradeshiya Sabha Anil Champika Wijesinghe and other ruling party politicians were accused of interfering with the management of the estate.
The Chairmen of the Sri Lanka Planter's Association, Nisala Jayawardena, has however, complained to BBC Sinhala that the police did not arrest those who were actually responsible for the crime.
Jayawardena said,
"If justice was done at that time he [the estate manager] wouldn't have died like this."
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