The Hon. Kabir Hashim

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I am pleased to speak on the Bill to establish the National Building Research Institute. I recall Hon. Ranjith Madduma Bandara submitted this Bill to Cabinet in 2019 as Minister then. President Ranasinghe Premadasa first initiated the NBRO concept in the 1980s. Legalizing it today is important, and we thank the Government.

¶ 02 The Institute’s three objectives are vital. It should facilitate, not obstruct, those who build. Therefore, set timeframes—issue approvals within two weeks, for example—so the public is not unduly burdened.

¶ 03 I represent Kegalle. Our district, represented also by Hon. Sujith Sanjaya Perera and the Government’s Environment Minister Hon. Dammika Patabendi, suffers frequent landslides and floods. The Saammasara Kanda landslide in Aranayake in 2017 claimed many lives and displaced hundreds of families.

¶ 04 I also raise a matter Hon. Nanda Bandara asked by oral question on September 18 about allocating 5 acres in Aranayake for a waste recycling center—Debathgama Watta. Debathgama Watta is my grandfather’s land, donated in 1952 to two charitable trusts—the E.L.M. Ibrahim Trust and the M.S.M. Saleem Trust—which administer it; my family is connected. In 2020, as Chairman of the Aranayake PS, Nihal Seneviratne wrote requesting 5 acres for waste recycling; within a week our Trust agreed unconditionally and the estate superintendent endorsed it. I table those letters.

¶ 05 Issuance of title for that land must be completed by the Government and has been delayed. We are ready to assist and will discuss it also at the District Committee.

¶ 06 After the Saammasara Kanda landslide, as a Minister then, with Hon. Ranjith Madduma Bandara and Hon. Gayantha Karunathilaka, we helped resettle the displaced. As there was no place for some 200 families to live, we offered 30 acres from our Debathgama Watta through our family trust; under then-Lands Minister Gayantha Karunathilaka a Gazette was issued to acquire it—I table that as well. People are settled there; we have not even been asked for the deeds. We gave it free for rebuilding. We have also given land from our private holdings in Galigamuwa to temples, schools, and cemeteries—for example, one acre to Dodamdeniya Temple, for which we seek support to finalize title.

¶ 07 Going forward, given the landslides and floods in our district, attention must be heightened. Thank you.