The Hon. Darmapriya Wijesinghe

¶ 01 Hon. Chairman, first I must respond to some Opposition points. A previous Member claimed the Government is pressuring the Election Commission to hold the Local Government Election on a date it wants. I suggest that if he has information, he should table it in this House, not merely cite newspapers.

¶ 02 As for the Budget, this Government was created by the very people you abandoned and called “innocent.” This Budget is presented for those people—to uplift their lives. By the end of five years, we will move them forward. Today is the opening day of Committee Stage, including the President’s Head. I want to address it differently.

¶ 03 A large share of our people live without adequate housing: 0.73% still in thatch houses; 4.36% in temporary, unfit structures; 20.14% in unfinished buildings; 7.25% with patched‑up roofs; 3.55% with no place at all—living on pavements and corridors at night in Colombo. Altogether, about 36% of families. That is the “innocent people” whom the Opposition left behind over seven decades of rule.

¶ 04 Yet Presidents elected by such people maintained ten Presidential Residences across the country, wasting vast sums that could have provided roofs over heads: Colombo Fort, Kandy, Paget Road official house, Kataragama, Nuwara Eliya, Mahiyanganaya, Embilipitiya, Bentota, Anuradhapura, Jaffna. Recently, Jaffna and Embilipitiya were handed to the Navy and Army. Still, eight residences remain, with huge maintenance costs.

¶ 05 Take Nuwara Eliya: from 2015 to 2024—ten years—the President set foot there only seven or eight times; not even once per year on average. Monthly operational cost exceeds Rs. 7 million. Over ten years, Rs. 66 million was spent for about seven visits. These places were even used for private leisure of Presidents’ spouses or for children’s birthday parties. This is what we discuss under the President’s Head.

¶ 06 What are we doing now? Before assuming office, we pledged to remove excess residences and privileges enjoyed above the people. There were eight residences; we have retained two: Colombo and Kandy—Kandy retained due to cultural need—and the rest will be freed for public purposes, and even these two used only for state functions. We are a different Government. Despite cutting such costs and saving hundreds of millions, the Opposition claims we do not support the people. We will proceed to meet people’s expectations.

¶ 07 Another example: in 2016, the Ministry of Agriculture rented a nine‑storey private building at Rs. 2.1 million per month—not even moving the Ministry there properly; instead, using public funds to reward associates. They returned the building but failed to recover the advance of around Rs. 600 million—an issue we must now resolve. Those are the practices that dragged this country down. We are taking new steps to rebuild.

¶ 08 When we took over, this was a bankrupt country headed for destruction. Within about two months, we stabilized it and regained international confidence. This journey will meet people’s expectations; we assure you.

¶ 09 The SJB keeps comparing our Budget with Ranil Wickremesinghe’s. Their own “Blueprint” is just a photocopy of his Budget—hence they keep talking about his proposals instead of their own. We, on the other hand, came here to fulfill what we pledged before you. We will keep that oath.

¶ 10 Thank you.