Sitting of Tuesday, 9 June 2026
Source: Hansard PDF (parliament.lk) ↗ ·No. 23706 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
Order of business
Speeches load per item. Summaries shown here are AI-generated and labelled; verbatim text is on each speech page.
- 1 Opening Opening: Parliament session commencement 21 speeches
- 2 Papers Messages from President and Petitions 6 speeches
- 3 Oral question Oral Questions 1-10 46 speeches
- 4 Oral question Oral Questions 8-27(2): Standing Order questions 34 speeches
- 5 Procedural Ministerial Statements 12 speeches
- 6 Debate Debate on Orders and Regulations (Items 1-5) 39 speeches
- 7 Debate Debate on Public Security Ordinance: Extension of State of Emergency 54 speeches
- 8 Adjournment Adjournment and Written Answers 9 speeches
- The Hon. Deputy Speaker procedural
- The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake NDF
AI summary Hon. Ravi Karunanayake asked the Minister of Housing, Construction and Water Supply for detailed information on the national housing deficit as of 2026, disaggregated by income and settlement categories, and on delivery targets, unit costs, affordability benchmarks, and beneficiary income levels for 2026-2029. He requested details on eligibility criteria, digital verification, appeals or cancellations due to irregularities, and whether a public beneficiary registry exists to prevent politicization and duplication. He also asked whether a middle-class housing scheme is being implemented, including its location and expected completion date, and if not, the reasons.
Land & Housing Full speech → - The Hon. (Dr.) Susil Ranasinghe - Minister of Housing, Construction and Water Supply JJB
AI summary Accurate data on the national housing shortage by income group or sector is not currently available, and the Ministry is seeking information from the Department of Census and Statistics. The National Housing Development Authority plans several programmes for 2026-2029, including 70,110 grant-assisted houses for poor and low-income families, Sevana housing villages, loan schemes for low and lower-middle-income families, and housing for middle-income earners, tenants, occupants of uninhabitable houses, and government servants, with costs assessed against inflation, mortgage rates, and construction escalation. Eligibility criteria include low income, lack of a permanent house, female-headed households, disability or chronic illness, large numbers of dependents, need for construction or renovation, and ability to pay in middle-income schemes. The Minister also stated that there is no publicly accessible beneficiary registry and listed recent or planned middle-class housing schemes in Tangalle, Ragama, Wadduwa, Ranpokunagama, Kirulapone, Maligawatta, and Gampaha.
- The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake NDF
AI summary Hon. Ravi Karunanayake asked the Minister of Housing, Construction and Water Supply for detailed information on occupied Government-built high-rise housing complexes under the NHDA and urban regeneration programmes. He sought data on installed and inoperative lifts, 2025 lift downtime, maintenance allocations and spending for 2024 and 2025, procurement and performance of maintenance contracts, structural and fire-safety audits since 2023 and whether their findings would be tabled. He also asked about contingency arrangements for elderly and disabled residents during lift outages, and whether any buildings had been declared unsafe, partially condemned, or requiring urgent capital rehabilitation.
- The Hon. (Dr.) Susil Ranasinghe - Minister of Housing, Construction and Water Supply JJB
AI summary The Minister provided details on lifts in NHDA housing schemes, stating that most high-rise schemes built before 2012 were five floors or fewer and were not required to have lifts under the regulations at the time. He said lifts have been installed only in Soisapura Phase III and the Marapalla Resettlement Housing Project, with maintenance to be handled by Management Corporations after handover, and confirmed that NHDA does not allocate funds for lift maintenance. He also stated that phased measures have been arranged, while indicating that certain follow-up matters were not applicable.
- The Hon. (Dr.) Susil Ranasinghe - Minister of Housing, Construction and Water Supply JJB
AI summary The Minister provided data on National Housing Development Authority housing schemes, stating that most pre-2012 high-rise schemes were built without elevators because regulations at the time did not require them, and that elevator maintenance in newer schemes would be transferred to Management Corporations after deeds are issued. He identified two schemes reported as unsafe or unfit for occupation: Slave Island Wekanda, cited by the National Building Research Institute as hazardous, and Nupewela Resettlement Housing Scheme in Matara, found by the Department of Buildings to be unfit for occupation. Responding to a question on NHDA housing and deeds, he stated that 15,947 units were constructed within Colombo Municipal Council limits and 52,174 islandwide as at 31 December 2025, with further project and district details provided in an annex.
- The Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya - Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education JJB
AI summary The Prime Minister provided a written response to a question on G.C.E. Ordinary Level Sinhala, Tamil and English results from 2015 to 2025, stating that annual candidate numbers, failures and failure percentages were included in an annex. She outlined measures to improve language education, including teacher training, mock and model papers, e-Thaksalawa and Gurugedara resources, competitions, reading promotion, English-speaking initiatives, Regional English Support Centres, learning resources and partnerships with institutions such as universities, the British Council and Goethe-Institut. It was also noted that appointments of suitably qualified graduates have been made for language teaching, while a separate question by Hon. Ajith P. Perera was deferred for two weeks at the request of the Minister of Health and Mass Media.
Education Full speech → - The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake - Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development and the Leader of the House of Parliament JJB
AI summary The Minister responded to a question on development plans for local government institutions in the Ja-Ela, Minuwangoda, Katunayake-Seeduwa, Negombo and Gampaha electorates. He stated that a Ja-Ela Development Plan is being prepared for the Ja-Ela Urban Council and Ja-Ela Dandugamperuwa Pradeshiya Sabha areas, and that the Ja-Ela Interim Zoning Plan approved by the Urban Development Authority Director General on 18 December 2021 remains in force until the new plan takes effect.
- Hon. Bimal Rathnayake JJB
AI summary Hon. Bimal Rathnayake provided details on the status of development and zoning plans for several local authority areas, including Ja-Ela, Minuwangoda, Katana, Negombo, and Gampaha. He stated that draft zoning plans are being implemented in Ja-Ela and Minuwangoda pending formal development plans, while the Negombo and Gampaha plans have been gazetted and are in legal operation. He noted that the Katana Development Plan (2024-2033) has received Urban Development Authority committee approval and has been referred to relevant local authorities and the Divisional Coordinating Committee for observations, with plans and annexes available through official websites or placed in the Library.