The Hon. Chamara Sampath Dasanayake

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I had 10 minutes; you gave our Hon. Minister three minutes extra.

¶ 02 First, I wish to place on record my best wishes to Mr. Udaya Munasinghe, Director (Administration) of Parliament, retiring today after 30 years of service.

¶ 03 On the NBRI Bill: this institution was formed in 1984 under President Premadasa; 2006 saw the highest number of disasters; in 2007 NBRO came under the Disaster Management Ministry under Minister Ferial Ashraff. In Badulla District, NBRO is pivotal — you cannot even build a road without an NBRO report. Though it worked without an Act, it has done vast work in landslide-prone Badulla and Nuwara Eliya. We should thank the Government for bringing the law to regularize it. We support good things.

¶ 04 On the CEB issue: one minister said issues “dissolve like salt,” but they do not. You talk of 12 companies; whether 12 or 15, you created them. If Kanchana had done it right, he would have won in Matara. Polraj won; Kanchana lost — people trusted NPP there. Do not boast about six companies now; just manage what exists and resolve the issues with unions in discussion with the President, not by lecturing the Opposition.

¶ 05 In 2015, under the yahapalana government, 6,000 manpower workers at CEB were made permanent under Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya. The union leader Ranjan Jayalal collected Rs. 5,000–15,000 from each worker; now they ask for their money back. He withdrew from the struggle. These are facts.

¶ 06 We, in the Opposition, are not agitating or instigating; you created these companies and passed the law with your 159-seat majority. Now solve people’s problems — including the 25,000 Development Officers recruited under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Assign them productively; heed their demands. They helped you come to power.

¶ 07 Look at the Police: 492 Sergeants from 2009 still await promotion, including some who arrested us under the Public Property Act. Address their grievances; consider promoting them to SI.

¶ 08 Also, I table a document on a major financial fraud of Rs. 28 million in the finance division of the Sri Lanka Ayurvedic Drugs Corporation — the largest financial fraud there. Please investigate.

¶ 09 Placed in the Library.

¶ 10 Find and fix the leakages; plug the holes like we did in Uma Oya by identifying and sealing leaks. Then you can govern smoothly. Do not blame us for CEB or graduates’ issues. Thank you.