The Hon. Chamara Sampath Dasanayake

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chair, we debate the Budgetary Relief Allowance (Amendment) Bills and National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Bill. Before that, I raise an issue for the Minister in charge of Police. Under IGP Ilangakoon, allowances for the 40 percent category of police officers were reduced to 22 percent with the recent salary changes; while other components balance out, I will send you my paysheet. You previously advocated for police pay rises; do proceed to increase police salaries.

¶ 02 Hon. Anil Jayantha said the country had collapsed when they took over. The collapse was in 2021–2022; recovery began in 2023 when we made Ranil Wickremesinghe President; about USD 6 billion in reserves context was handed over. Even President Anura Kumara said at his oath-taking that he inherited a country somewhat on the path to recovery. Do not deny that. Things are still hard; people have not yet received everything.

¶ 03 The Environment Minister says even elephant deaths are the Opposition’s fault—as if we pushed elephants in Batticaloa onto trains. He also implied we asked Donald Trump to impose a 44 percent tariff on us. No one here is Trump’s friend. Those tariffs hit many countries and are now at 30 percent.

¶ 04 On minimum wages, if taxes increase on garments, hundreds of thousands could lose jobs, especially workers from districts like Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Badulla and Monaragala who work in factories in Gampaha. Manage this carefully.

¶ 05 The IMF program was not brought by you alone; we undertook several missions and handed over for you to continue. Some Ministers earlier said the “white man” would give money on our terms—now everything is on IMF terms. If it were on our terms, electricity tariffs would not have risen. Also, a Minister recently said there is no law that what we grow must be what we eat, and we can import rice—such statements are unacceptable in an agrarian country.

¶ 06 On enforcement against encroachments around tanks: before demolishing private structures, start with government ones. Demolish Polonnaruwa Rest House on the tank bund if you can; the Governor’s residence in Anuradhapura; the Kandy Lake Hotel; official residences—all have approvals and official estimates behind them. Under public property laws you cannot arbitrarily demolish; otherwise, you must remand those responsible. Do not just talk—act.

¶ 07 After the tsunami, 100-metre coastal zones were to be cleared; in practice, almost nothing was removed, and more was built. Be practical; not everything can be cleared to the literal letter.

¶ 08 Finally, stop grandstanding. Do what is right. Thank you.