The Hon. Ravindra Bandara

¶ 01 What I am saying is that in our country everything should proceed with order and vision. As the Government completes one year, I want to say something new. Previously, different people said different things: that the IMF program would fail, that investments would not come. Despite such talk, I say we must keep faith in what is being done.

¶ 02 Regarding the CEB too, that is my point. What did former state leaders say? That MILCO should be sold because it was making losses and heavily indebted. But now those debts have been settled and it operates profitably. They said Triposha would be shut down; even the Leader of the Opposition said so. But what happened? New products are being introduced and it is moving forward. They said SriLankan Airlines should be sold, and that even profitable enterprises should be sold to move ahead. Yet today these entities are moving towards operational profits; even those that recorded losses are now operationally profitable.

¶ 03 The people must discuss this new vision, new model and new political culture. The entire country should debate it. If 705 kilograms of drugs such as ice, cocaine and heroin enter the country in a single day, should that not alarm the whole nation? Yet to suppress such matters and the exposure of 4,000-5,000 illegal accounts, other short-lived topics are brought to the fore — like the egg issue then, which is gone now; and salt, which also dissipated.

¶ 04 Rather than chasing after fleeting headlines, we should discuss substantive issues. Especially, this legislation lays the legal foundation you could not previously provide for the construction sector. As I have said before, we must build the country aligned to the future world. Natural disasters are more severe than a bus overturning. To prevent such calamities and beautify our country, let us approve this Bill and empower the institution. I conclude.