The Hon. K. Kader Masthan

¶ 01 Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem.

¶ 02 Hon. Deputy Speaker, I convey my deepest condolences to the families of those who died and to all affected. Officials, MPs, civil society and the public have been helping; even affected people have gone to help others. I thank and commend them, and my Sri Lanka Labour Party colleagues who also served.

¶ 03 While I welcome Government relief efforts and pray they are implemented properly without irregularities, I urge that all actions be completed successfully. The Hon. President’s visits to districts, convening DCCs and meeting victims are welcome.

¶ 04 However, at the special DCC in Puttalam on the 13th chaired by the Hon. President, officials misled him by saying that since the 1980s there has been no transport on the Puttalam–Elavankulam–Mannar road and that the Supreme Court case is concluded. In fact, this route shortens Colombo–Jaffna travel by about 80 km and at least 2.5 hours. While displaced in the 1990s the route stopped, but resumed in 2010. Later, litigation claimed public transport through Wilpattu disturbed wildlife. The Supreme Court issued an interim order allowing transport without road development. Until June 2019, SLTB/private buses operated Mannar–Puttalam–Kalpitiya. In June 2019, transport was halted citing damage to a bridge at the 37th kilometre.

¶ 05 For nearly 15 years, many stood for the public in court. The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) assured in court they would not allow public use; thus, the first petitioner’s claim was accepted and the case “settled”. If wildlife disturbance is the concern, why are other roads through wildlife regions – Habarana–Kantale–Kanewelpola–Minneriya–Dambulla and Ampara–Siyambalanduwa – open to public transport?

¶ 06 Surprisingly, defendants who previously supported reopening silently agreed to closure based on DWC assurances, betraying the people. This raises suspicion of a conspiracy. How can the DWC decide on public transport? A centuries-old public road cannot be arbitrarily closed disregarding people’s needs. Without a definitive court judgment, “settling” based on DWC statements harms future development of the region and transport needs of hundreds of thousands. I table the Supreme Court order dated 2025.05.07 and related documents for the Hansard and Library.

¶ 07 Flooding will occur on this route in future; if so, transport to Mannar and Jaffna will be disrupted. I urge measures to protect this road from flood damage.