The Hon. M.S. Uthumalebbe

¶ 01 Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.

¶ 02 Hon. Presiding Member, I am pleased to speak on the Supplementary Estimates for the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs and for the Ministry of Urban Development, Construction and Housing.

¶ 03 The Ministry of Women and Child Affairs must deliver essential services; I urge the Hon. Minister to do good work through it. More pressing, however, is an issue under Urban Development, Construction and Housing in my Ampara District.

¶ 04 After the 26 December 2004 tsunami, housing was built for affected people across areas, enabling them to live with dignity. In Akkaraipattu, the Saudi Government, under a grant agreement with Sri Lanka, funded a 500-house project at Nuraicholai on state land, with school, hospital, market, mosque, and sports ground, at a cost of about Rs. 10 billion. Construction began there and finished in 2009. Yet for 20 years these facilities have stood abandoned, a testament to lost humanity due to racism and selfishness; the site has become overgrown.

¶ 05 In October 2024, during a meeting between H.E. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the Saudi Ambassador, H.E. Khalid Hamood Nasser Al-Qahtani, the Ambassador said the houses should be given to tsunami-affected Akkaraipattu residents and even offered to fund an additional 500 if needed. He made similar requests to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and others, and the Government promised quick allocation. But even after 11 months, the houses have not been handed over.

¶ 06 In the Ministry’s Advisory Committee, when I proposed allocation of the Nuraicholai scheme to tsunami-affected families, the Hon. Minister said the 500-house scheme had not yet been vested in the Housing Ministry and remained under the Ampara District Secretary. In Parliament, when an Hon. Member asked, it was stated that the court had ordered allocation on an ethnic ratio, and a request was made to allocate by that ratio in Ampara. If there is such a court order, it should not be confined to this scheme alone but applied to all housing schemes nationwide. If minorities elsewhere are to receive land and housing fairly, then apply that Nuraicholai principle across the country.

¶ 07 These tsunami-affected people have been homeless for two decades, protesting and blocking roads, waiting outside the Divisional Secretariat with children. I urge the President, Prime Minister, and Minister of Justice to convene special meetings and ensure these houses are given to those people. Saudi Arabia is ready to fund more housing. The Housing Ministry and others should act.

¶ 08 Finally, regarding a statement made yesterday in this House: it was said that for Kalmunai DS Division and Kalmunai North Sub-office, no joint District Coordinating Committee meetings were held. I read a letter dated 08.02.2024 from the Ampara District Secretary instructing that, with the concurrence of the DCC Chair, Hon. S.M.M. Musharaf, joint DCC meetings for both areas be held at a common venue. Based on this letter, such meetings have been convened. Thank you.