Sri Lanka’s Plans to Export Sweetener in Sour Spot Over Labor Paucity Sri Lanka’s Plans to Export Sweetener in Sour Spot Over Labor Paucity Comments Off on Sri Lanka’s Plans to Export Sweetener in Sour Spot Over Labor Paucity COLOMBO — Sri Lanka’s plan to boost exports of treacle of palmyra and indigenous kithul has encountered a major hurdle in lack of workforce. Communities that were engaged in extracting sap from trees have moved on to other professions and few know to convert the sap to treacle. “Communities whose livelihoods used to be based on tapping and preparing the palmyra syrup have found other occupations,” Krishnarajah Selliah, a historian, told Zenger News.