The Hon. Thanura Dissanayake

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, first, I wish to express condolences to those who lost their lives, were injured or are missing due to this natural disaster, and to their families. From the moment this struck, public servants, the Armed Forces, and the public all worked together tirelessly, and within about three weeks we have brought the country to this point. I also express condolences for the lives lost among public servants and forces: a CEB worker, five Navy personnel, and a GN who perished while serving.

¶ 02 We faced a massive natural calamity and are now moving at speed toward normalization. This is a collective effort and I thank everyone involved. There is a long journey ahead to fully restore the country.

¶ 03 The Opposition asked to use the lunch break for debate. But today’s schedule was agreed with the Opposition. MPs can always step out to have lunch; staff cannot. There is only one sign language interpreter working today; that 30-minute break is essential for staff wellbeing. We gave ample time yesterday and today.

¶ 04 Many still fail to grasp the ground reality. In the Central Province, all access routes were cut, internal routes collapsed, communication networks down, power was out, and 18 out of 20 water schemes stopped. Some still make jokes here. We took rapid decisions to intervene.

¶ 05 In my district, officials and people worked patiently. Some officials could not even find their own houses but still served. This is not an opportunity to sling mud. I was dismayed by the behaviour of some Opposition members who came to Kandy: they interrogated the GA amidst a communications blackout, asking how many camps there were while even Divisional Secretaries had no phone connectivity. The tri-forces and civilians established communications on foot. Do not trivialize from here without understanding the ground.

¶ 06 This was an ongoing dynamic disaster. There are still impassable roads and unstable slopes; landslides remain active. Even now reservoirs are full and spilling; tell us, Opposition’s “great engineers”, what should be done now? We are fighting nature. The tri-forces, Civil Security Department and volunteers did the hard work across districts.

¶ 07 In over 60 percent of the Kandy DS divisions we held disaster management meetings. I observed some Opposition members raised questions only about areas where their vote-bases are, not the whole. They attended only when the President came. We must move fast and use funds allocated up to 31 December 2026 to restore livelihoods and infrastructure.

¶ 08 We maintained fiscal discipline last year, built a primary surplus, and without extra borrowing, without changing interest rates or derailing our plans, we are allocating an extra Rs. 500 billion to rebuild better. The strength to do this comes from our officials, forces and supportive citizens. We as a Government have provided the space, authority and resources for them to work.

¶ 09 I saw an Opposition MP come to Kandy and throw clothes at people – these are dignified people who lived well and now suffer due to a natural calamity. Do not demean them. If you want to do theatrics, do it in your own areas; do not come to Kandy to “throw clothes”.

¶ 10 Our people live with dignity; we will rebuild so they can continue to do so. Ironically, the worst affected politically by this disaster seems to be the Opposition. We will combine this Rs. 500 billion with the 2026 Budget allocations and rebuild the country. We are all ready to work with the people and the State machinery to do so.

¶ 11 Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.