Tea producers in Artvin react to price drop

UGUR IS FROM ISTANBUL

(ARTVIN) – Tea producers in Hopa district of Artvin voiced their reactions to tea prices. A tea producer said, “I have never seen such suffering. They buy tea for 9 liras, we pay 7 liras to our workers. How much will it cost to have a car, eat and drink, and can such a thing happen? We have been suffering this for a week, we are finished, we will pull the plug on tea.” Another producer said, “Our ten-day tea rotted in a sack, I took it behind the house to make fertilizer. What can I do; there is no special, no purchase, and what will happen, we ended up on the streets.”

Tea producers living in Hopa district of Artvin were left with their tea. Stating that the private sector had reduced the purchase price of tea to 9 liras, the producers said they would no longer produce tea.

“I’ll say a lot of things but I swear to God I’m tired”

Tea producer Hatice Altınkaya said:

“I am from Yoldere village and I have never seen such suffering. They buy tea for 9 liras and we pay 7 liras to the workers. How much will it cost to have a car, to eat and drink and can such a thing happen? We are exhausted, we have been suffering like this for a week. Believe me, we have been suffering for a week and we are exhausted, we will pull the plug on the tea, you tell us what to do. The private sector comes at 08:00 and people get out of their beds and go to sell tea. On top of that, they pay 11 liras, the state pays 17 liras, the private sector pays 11 liras and the other one pays 9 liras and which one will we do? We buy ten loaves of bread a day for the workers, I could say a lot but I swear to God I am fed up.”

The tea producer from Yoldereli said, “It is very difficult, the private sector is not buying, they lowered the prices and people are victimized, the producers are victimized. There is no justice, no order, people’s psychology is damaged, woe to us. May God help us. The private sector lowered the price of tea to 9 liras in cash price, it is not possible to make ends meet, we are already paying 7 liras to the workers.”

“I took my ten-day tea behind the house to make fertilizer”

Tea producer Fatma Aksamaz said, “Our ten-day tea rotted in a sack, I took it behind the house to make fertilizer. What can I do? There is no private sector, no purchase, and what will happen? We took to the streets and the private sector lowered the prices to 9 liras. While workers want 8 liras for car money, there is now 100 liras left for 1 ton. Can such a thing happen? Or should they uproot it? We are really tired of this.”

The tea producer said, “Should we give it to the worker or the car? I gave 1 million money for the road money, what should we do, what should we do? I gave a lot of money for the road, it would be better if I left the tea where it is.”

“I have three days’ worth of tea, I’ll go and beg the expert to buy it”

Tea producer Tolga Makar said:

“I don’t know how to explain this, my tea is here for 3 days. I will go and beg the expert, I don’t know if he will take more than my quota, I don’t know if the private sector’s car will come tomorrow and that is also uncertain. I will spread the leftover tea over and over again and dry it again, it will burn, melt and run out here. I am also a tradesman here, I have a market and I also run a buffet. People used to sell tea for cash, they would come and make toasts for the workers and pay us, they can’t even do that anymore. We are in a tight spot in every way and we haven’t seen anything like this until this year.”

“The state closed its doors and forced us to private sector”

The tea producer who said that the state has closed its doors said, “We are working in the tea garden but we cannot sell our tea to the state. The place belonging to the state has already closed its doors and says you can only lose 100 kilos per day and do whatever you want for the rest” while another producer said, “I will not say anything and there is no need to say that they are not buying and they are not buying on purpose and the state was closed yesterday and the private sector is not buying either, there is nothing else and these are being done on purpose”.