The Hon. Danushka Ranganath

¶ 01 Additional funds have been allocated. Moreover, the government is acting to establish friendlier classrooms in estate schools, and to implement housing programmes for estate workers to resolve their longstanding housing problems. We know many have lived their lives crammed into line rooms without even basic facilities. Therefore, a programme to provide well-equipped housing, beyond mere minimum standards, must be undertaken.

¶ 02 Likewise, the government has allocated funds to empower the plantation community. Special attention has been paid to provide vocational training for plantation youth. There is a reason to prioritise vocational training: when they are economically distressed within the auction-driven economy, their labour flows out of the estates and into the informal sector where it is further exploited. But if we provide these youths with professional education and transform them into skilled workers released into the formal economy, they will be able to secure much better economic conditions.

¶ 03 Hon. Presiding Member, while we build houses and work to provide homes for those without, the Opposition tries to say this is Ranil’s government and Ranil’s policies in the Budget. They are mistaken. Under Ranil’s policies and budgets, things did not happen like this. Ranil built and distributed houses for his “elephant friends.” Not only that, you will remember how some of those houses were demolished and how compensation in the hundreds of millions of rupees was paid regarding those demolished houses.

¶ 04 Hon. Presiding Member, you will also remember that Ranil Wickremesinghe told us to tighten our belts while allocating Rs. 12,241 million as campaign funds to his elephant friends. While presenting budgets asking people to tighten their belts, he set aside huge sums to make his elephant friends flourish. Therefore, to those who say this is Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Budget, we wish to remind them of these facts. Furthermore, those who claim this is Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Budget seem to forget that we have stopped vehicle permits this year and suspended vehicle imports. Also, MPs’ insurance has been reduced from Rs. 1 million to Rs. 200,000. While the government cuts its own privileges to provide relief to the people, the Opposition still throws mud, saying this is so-and-so’s Budget. They do this because they have nothing substantive to say about this Budget. This began with the Opposition’s so‑called economic “professor” who, before the media, tried to label this as Ranil’s Budget. Those arguments have now collapsed.

¶ 05 Moreover, Hon. Member, within this Budget Rs. 5,000 million has been allocated for the Clean Sri Lanka programme. We know the Clean Sri Lanka programme can take our society several steps forward.

¶ 06 I have already said our country has changed politically. We have achieved economic stability. Beyond that, we now need to uplift the country socially, and then environmentally, and thereafter ethically. The Clean Sri Lanka programme is designed to uplift society, the environment, and ethics, implemented as a mass, participatory national project uniting the people.

¶ 07 You will remember we debated the Clean Sri Lanka programme for two days. During that debate, Opposition MPs said it was an empty show and that funds had not been allocated. I have the Hansard record here: they said “no funds allocated, this won’t be implemented.” Those were lies. In this debate, we can now state Rs. 5,000 million has been allocated. They have nothing more to say, so they continue to spread falsehoods.

¶ 08 Hon. Presiding Member, we should also recall that this Budget declares a Sri Lankan Day as a national festival, with Rs. 300 million allocated. The commencement of Sri Lankan Day stems from the last Parliamentary Election where the people of the North, East, Centre, and South came together to build a government with the participation of all—namely, the National People’s Power (NPP) government. That government has created the space for all our people to come together culturally. Therefore, Sri Lankan Day will be held in that spirit. There are many other proposals in this Budget as well.

¶ 09 Hon. Presiding Member (The Hon. Presiding Member)

¶ 10 The Hon. Member’s allotted time is now over.