The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna - Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure

¶ 01 [3.46 p.m.]

¶ 02 Hon. Presiding Member, this is an important Bill for our people and our future. Though NBRO has functioned since 05.03.1984, it lacked legal power. Law builds institutions; after 41 years we now fill that gap. As our Government completes its first year, people can be satisfied that democratic, people-centered laws are being passed.

¶ 03 We expect this Act to empower research and testing, and to provide technical services for building a resilient built environment to face future disasters. The need is clear. Our history of landslides includes: 1947 Kadugannawa, 40 lives lost; 2016 Aranayake, 150 lives; 1970 Walapane, 19 lives; 2014 Meeriyabedda in Badulla, 36 lives. Over the past two decades: 2003, 218 deaths; 2014, 100; 2016, 151; 2017, 262. Weak enforcement of laws cost lives.

¶ 04 Landslides are not only in the hills; our “national bank” slid—national unity and religious harmony suffered landslides. Rebuilding law and institutions is part of rebuilding the whole.

¶ 05 In 2014, as a Uva Provincial Council member, I asked NBRO about the 2014 October 29 Meeriyabedda slide that killed 36. NBRO showed a 2007 report identifying it as a high-risk site and instructing immediate evacuation of 68 line rooms. The letters went from District Secretary to DS to GN. Yet the people had nowhere to go; land rights were absent. These were preventable deaths.

¶ 06 Landslides are of two main types: natural and human-induced. Now, most are human-induced. The Uma Oya project is a case in point—damage in Ella and Bandarawela was not “natural” but due to defective project decisions and inadequate environmental studies. Yesterday, the Cabinet discussed Uma Oya. Owing to the destruction, compensation must be paid; there is an ongoing Supreme Court case led by the Centre for Environmental Justice and Hemanta Withanage, supported by the people. According to Government-accepted reports—including NBRO’s—8,374 houses were cracked, shattered, or collapsed. We have already paid compensation to thousands; yesterday Cabinet approved compensation for a further 1,153 houses. There are more pending which we tasked a committee under the District Secretary to assess. In Ella and Bandarawela alone, 256 houses were totally flattened. Many springs—over ten thousand initially—dried up; people still lack drinking water. We decided to continue bowser water supply, and to implement soil conservation measures. We also decided to build the Talpitigala reservoir in the lower Uma Oya to alleviate water scarcity.

¶ 07 In Badulla and across the plantation sector, the landslide problem is severe. NBRO reports in 2015–2016 mapped that 66.9% of Badulla District land is at landslide risk, with 5,064 named houses at risk; Nuwara Eliya has 897. We cannot watch people die. On October 12, we will begin providing 2,125 plantation-sector families at high risk with a Rs. 3.2 million house and 10 perches of land each, under the President’s leadership. In our district, many schools identified by NBRO—Memale Tamil School, Makkaldeniya, Meeriyabedda, Mahakanda Arnold, Glen Alpine—are at risk; we must replace them. This year we are remediating 15 landslide sites in Badulla with safety structures, allocating Rs. 1,500 million.

¶ 08 The world focuses on environmental issues; under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s leadership we place environment at the forefront, strengthen law, and protect people. I request support for this Bill. Thank you.