The Hon. R.M. Ranjith Madduma Bandara

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, this NBRI Bill is presented today. Six years ago, in 2019, as Minister of Disaster Management, I presented the related Cabinet paper. NBRO was started in 1984 by President Ranasinghe Premadasa. Over 70 years, the country has seen large-scale construction; NBRO was set up to regulate properly. Today, with 30 per cent of land in the hill country, landslides and related issues occur; NBRO has been essential in ensuring proper construction of hotels, schools, hospitals and housing.

¶ 02 Every year we face landslides, floods, cyclones and tremors. During our government, the Samasara mountain in Aranayake collapsed; 113 people died. Within two years, we built houses, roads and provided water for survivors. I thank Hon. Kabir Hashim: we had no land and his mother gave 35 acres of private land for resettlement.

¶ 03 NBRO also assessed environmental damage from the X-Press Pearl disaster. In our time, under the National Insurance Trust Fund, we insured all natural disasters: Rs. 400,000 for a plot, Rs. 1.6 million for rebuilding a house, and Rs. 2.5 million for livelihood losses. Now that fund has been scrapped. Are you operating it today? Please reinstate it; people say houses damaged by rains receive no aid now.

¶ 04 NBRO identified risky line-rooms at Dehigala Watta near the Bibile DS office; we found alternative lands. Start those relocations. Similarly at Welawatta in Badalkumbura, two line-rooms must be vacated; the government has done nothing. Provide adequate funds to NBRO — our government allocated substantial sums.

¶ 05 We will support this Bill — it follows from our 2019 proposal. But be more proactive on disasters and support the people. Thank you.