The Hon. Sudath Balagalla

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, today is telling. The Opposition, who were on the Government benches a year ago, must now face the outcomes of their own decisions. Under their excise decisions, people were enticed and the bar industry was pampered, pushing households into debt with hire-purchase and credit traps. They didn’t leave us a healthy country.

¶ 02 Our people never drank on credit, yet CPC, CEB, Water Board, and SLTB racked up losses under their rule while citizens paid. Alongside excise, we face the scourge of narcotics. In nine months, aside from the floating cache, authorities seized about 1,248 kg of heroin and 1,852 kg of “ice.” If you count doses by grain, that’s intoxicants for an enormous number of people. Who nurtured this underworld? The very political culture built previously. Investigations must proceed, but those who created the environment must answer morally.

¶ 03 On potatoes in our Badulla District, costs are high due to inputs. We must reduce cost of production—start with seed. We rely on imported seed potatoes; for 76 years we failed to establish domestic seed systems. Now we have a plan with the Agriculture Ministry to begin domestic seed production; within 2–3 years we aim to reduce farmers’ costs by about 25%. This cannot be fixed overnight, but we will do it.

¶ 04 To the Opposition: stop traditional thinking. If we had thought like you, we would not be in Government today. Modernize your thinking, or remain a permanent Opposition.