Bhathiya Bulumulla (49 yrs)

In February, 1999, I joined Elpitiya Plantations Plc., my present employer, as a Group Manager on Elpitiya  Estate, which is  the  largest plantation  of the company. consisting over 1,100 hectares   and cultivated with  Rubber , Oil Palm, Cinnamon, Coconut etc.,Elpitiya Plantations Plc is managed by Aitken Spence Plc,  which is one of the leading Blue Chip conglomerate in Sri Lanka which is traded in Colombo stock exchange. 

At the time of my taking over Elpitiya Estate, it was ranked in the bottom of list of 15 estates managed by Elpitiya Plantations Plc  and I was managed to bring it up to the No. 1 position in the company,   after a span of five years. This transformation was made possible due to the  many  field development works undertaken by me with introduction of mechanization   in addition  to  diversification of  uneconomical crop fields in to economical crops such as large scale Palm Oil cultivation.  

During my tenure as Group Manager on Elpitiya Estate, the Rubber Factory on that estate was developed to produce specialty natural rubber shoe soles , adding value to the  raw material,  exclusively to  export to Messes. Clarks Shoe Company of UK,  at premium prices.  when the  global rubber market was on the downward  trend.  

In recognition of my performance on Elpitiya Estate, the company  promoted me  as  the Deputy General Manager in the year 2006 and the management of  two more estates was entrusted to me, in addition to Elpitiya Estate, making the total number of estates under my charge to three.  

In the year 2008, I was elevated to the position of General Manager of Elpitiya Plantations Plc  and was  given with an additional responsibility of Managing the Elpitiya Lifestyle Solutions  (Pvt) Ltd Factory, where rubber wood was treated to turn into house hold furniture,and industrial brush blocks which was another value addition  project of rubber timber.Elpitiya Lifestyle Solutions  (Pvt) Ltd Factory was a Joint Venture Project between Elpitiya Plantations PLc and  the Life Style Solutions Company of the USA. 

During the period my tenure as the General Manager, the Cluster of estates under  my charge made the highest profit in the company for two consecutive years  in the years 2009/10 and 2010/11. 

 In July, 2011, I was promoted as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Elpitiya Plantations Plc and moved to the Head Office in Colombo, In July 2013, Elpitiya Plantations Plc elevated me to the  position of Chief Executive Officer entrusting more responsibilities on me  in the operations of the Company. 

At this time,  I took the initiative to formulate the ‘Plant ERM’ Project in collaboration with the  Ace Technologies Plc  to introduce the first  indigenous “In house IT Solutions  System “  amongst the  RPCs in Sri Lanka  to  link the plantations with the Head Office live, which is   now  being put into  practice among the 13 estates managed by this company,

 The implementation of the Strategic Investments by Elpitiya Plantations Plc  into diversifying   its activities into  generation of hydro power, Commercial Forestry, Eco Tourism, marketing  of own branded teas  etc.,  and   commencing  Joint Venture projects  to process  Palm Oil and producing specialty  black teas exclusively for export markets,  mainly targeting the high end users  in China, have paid rich dividends.

 2013/14  financial year, Elpitiya Plantations Plc ranked as the No. 2 place Company among the  twenty two RPCs in the country on  earned profits, and  topped the ranking  as the No. 1 RPC   in terms of  profit per unit area. 

In the financial year 2014/15 ended on 31st March, 2015, Elpitiya Plantations Plc become the No. 1 Plantation Company among  all the RPCs both in terms of earned profits and profit per Unit area.

In November, 1992, I joined Bogawantala Plantations Plc, managed by Metropolitan Tea Company (Pvt) Ltd.,  as  Manager on Densworth Estate  and in recognition of  my excellent performance on that estate, the management promoted me  as the Group Plantations Manager to  Maha Oya Group  where   five Assistant Managers served under me.

I commenced my carrier as a   Trainee Assistant Manager in my early age of   20 years, in one of the Plantations managed by the State owned   Sri Lanka State Plantations Corporation in May 1986 and upon satisfactory completion of my apprenticeship, I was appointed as an Assistant Manager on Dalkeith  State Plantation in January, 1987, where I was in charge of two Divisions.  

 In 1990, I was promoted as the Senior Assistant Manager and transferred to Payagala State Plantation. In June, 1992,  the Government of Sri Lanka initiated a  programme  to   re-privatize  the Management of the two  State Owned  plantations  entities  namely Sri Lanka State Plantations Corporation and the Janatha Estates Development Board  into 22 Regional Plantations Companies,   Payagala estate was  taken over by Kotagala Plantations Plc .,  which was managed by George Stuart & Company  Limited. 

During my tenure as Senior Assistant Manager on   Payagala Estate, this estate becomes the No. 1 Plantation in Kotagala Plantations Plc, in terms of profitability and productivity