The Hon. Chamara Sampath Dasanayake

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, both Government and Opposition speak today of the Middle East war. When reckless leaders arise, these things happen. Such recklessness has taxed countries wrongly, and then by force changed regimes. Israel has again struck Iran. If this war escalates with bigger powers, poor, innocent countries like ours will suffer. I will not dwell further.

¶ 02 On arrests: Pilleyan has been held for a year — what information has been obtained if he is linked to Easter? Now Salley is arrested. At the time of the blasts, DIG Ravi Seneviratne, SSP Shani Abeysekera, and Eastern Governor Aruna Jayasekara were in key roles. Later they mounted platforms with the then-popular Opposition; afterward, one became a Minister, another a Secretary, another Director CID, and another a Deputy Defence Minister. Had Salley joined them then, he would be a Minister today — instead he is in jail, while others are promoted. Senior JVP veteran Hon. Handunnetti knows how media spun narratives in war times. Intelligence operations during war relied heavily on Muslim officers like Salley; he contributed significantly. Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe warned in 2017 in Hansard of looming threats and was mocked then. Today we see what happened to weakened intelligence in Iran — leaders killed within hours. Our own allies queried us whether we had really found all those behind Easter. These officers worked for the country.

¶ 03 On gas, I warned on December 18 about an impending issue; it was dismissed then. We do not want fuel crises or queues; our people are poor and should not suffer. We hope the war ends soon.

¶ 04 On small issues: in Gampha, Kegalle, Matara many poor roll beedi; yet Rs. 3 per beedi and Rs. 90,000 per licence are extracted, with raids harassing them. Please look into this. On SEDO: urad dal for papad manufacturers is constrained, while only major traders import — small producers are blocked.

¶ 05 In your own district, Hon. Presiding Member: Ulankulama Dairies (Pvt) Ltd in Maradankadawala makes ice cream. An MOH report flagged unsuitability; there is a Supreme Court order. Yet the factory has not been closed; instead officers have been transferred and threatened. Without an MOH report, local authorities cannot issue environmental permits. Please investigate.

¶ 06 The Budget said the Government would import 100 backhoe machines; the agent Senok was bypassed. Similar things happened with gas. We point out shortcomings to correct them.

¶ 07 Also, in Galle, police quarters deductions consume full salaries of some officers. Please rectify.

¶ 08 Thank you.