Hon. S. M. Marikkar
Hon. S. M. Marikkar said the compensation arrangements for recent flood damage were inconsistent with the President’s earlier statement that Rs. 10 billion would be provided immediately. Referring to the 2016 floods in the Kolonnawa DS Division, he argued that all inundated houses should be compensated rather than limiting assistance to about 3,000 houses out of roughly 30,000 affected. He requested a review of the guidelines, including the narrow definition of “fully damaged” as requiring a house to have collapsed.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Prime Minister, I am not satisfied. The President told this House that Rs. 10 billion would be provided immediately, but subsequent guidelines changed. For example, in the 2016 floods, in the Kolonnawa DS Division, Rs. 10,000 was paid (against the Rs. 25,000 equivalent) to 27,000 families, and Rs. 15,000 (against the Rs. 50,000 equivalent) to 23,000 families; a total of Rs. 1,900 million to 19,905 houses hit by floods. Now, about 30,000 houses in Kolonnawa were inundated by this flood; you cannot pay one house and skip the next. We hear only about 3,000 houses being targeted. As an MP for Colombo District, I request that you review and ensure all inundated houses receive due compensation. Currently, “fully damaged” implies a house must collapse, which is too narrow.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 4 March 2026 ·No. 23360 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: Hon. S. M. Marikkar. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 4 March 2026. No. 23360. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/13349