Hon. (Dr.) Harsha de Silva

¶ 01 [2.28 p.m.]

¶ 02 Hon. Presiding Member, I expect the Government to promptly investigate the murder of our Haliwala (Chaligama) PS Chairman, Lasantha Wickramasekara. Those engaged in politics deserve some protection — not only PS Members, but MPs and Ministers must be provided necessary security.

¶ 03 Just now I received a call from Dambulla: next to the Agrarian Store, a private party is bulldozing land, and a dispute with the Municipal Council has arisen. I mention this because yesterday at the Committee on Public Finance we had a lengthy discussion. There was bipartisan agreement on a matter: sometimes Special Commodity Levies are imposed — by this and previous Governments — to protect local farmers during harvest, when imports of onions and potatoes would undercut their income.

¶ 04 The National Tariff Policy of Sri Lanka was approved by Cabinet in May 2024. I table that document. This Government is implementing that policy. It states that when protecting domestic farmers, there must be a process. This arose from a letter I wrote on 21 May 2021 to the COPF Chair, requesting a forensic audit on the sugar deal losses to the State. Reducing the levy from Rs. 50 to 25 cents by a midnight Gazette, with insider information leaks, allowed some to gain billions. By December, our Committee reported Rs. 15.9 billion loss. To date, no answer on what happened.

¶ 05 Therefore, in discussions with the IMF, it was agreed that this process must change. One key point: a Minister cannot impose a tax without prior Cabinet approval. Earlier, taxes were imposed first and Cabinet approval sought later. Now prior approval is required. However, there are conditions: for example, such levies can only be imposed up to 45 days; and levies must be announced effective from January 1. You cannot impose ad hoc levies at whim; on Jan 1, announce periods for levies on potatoes and onions. A Hon. Member said the Opposition has no right to speak or complain. I suggest she read these provisions. The procedures must be followed. There is no Government–Opposition divide on this. Hon. Presiding Member, for the farmer’s potatoes…