Staff Reporter
KANUBARI, 20 Jan: Landowners under the banner of the Longhua, Mopakhat and Sangsatham United Society (LMSUS) said they will shut down the Mopa tea estate here in Longding district from Thursday until their pending land lease rents and profit shares are paid.
The owners claimed that 92 hectares of land were given on a long-term lease to the Arunachal Pradesh Forest Corporation Ltd (APFCL) during 1978-79 for development of tea garden @ Rs 250 per hectare per annum and 50 percent profit sharing.
The landowners claimed that the APFCL did not pay the lease rent and profit share to them for more than 30 years.
Terming the lease agreement made between the APFCL and the Rujen Welfare Society (RWS) totally unfair, the landowners said the agreement needs a relook. They said the agreement was made only in 1992, whereas the plantation had started in 1979.
The landowners, in a signed memorandum to the APFCL managing director, called for a round-table talk at the APFCL Mopa tea estate office at the earliest possible time.
