The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake - Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development and the Leader of the House of Parliament

¶ 01 [4.00 p.m.]

¶ 02 Hon. Presiding Member, today’s debate is to approve a supplementary estimate of Rs. 500 billion—without borrowing a single dollar—to rebuild lives through the Treasury.

¶ 03 This is exceptional. In earlier disasters, Governments borrowed widely, increasing debt limits; even 25% of capital allocations were debt. Today, in addition to the funds in the 2026 Budget, we already released Rs. 720 billion by December 31 for urgent works since the cyclone struck on Nov 27–28; the Rs. 500 billion is on top of that. This is possible due to disciplined fiscal management. People are free to criticize whether Rs. 25,000, Rs. 50,000, or Rs. 75,000 has reached homes—that criticism is enabled because we mobilized funds domestically after inheriting a bankrupt country.

¶ 04 Every affected household will receive Rs. 75,000; schoolchildren will receive Rs. 25,000; thus, a household with a child receives Rs. 100,000. The Rs. 500 billion is not just for immediate cash relief; it is for durable solutions: rebuilding broken water supply schemes, schools, public vehicles, roads, bridges, and rail infrastructure.

¶ 05 From January 1, we will deploy funds from this supplementary estimate along with the 2026 Budget. My Ministry received Rs. 3,200 billion under the 2026 Budget for roads; an additional Rs. 1,200 billion from this estimate—total Rs. 4,400 billion next year, including Rs. 400 billion for rural roads. We will also repair roads in districts less affected, like Matara, Galle, Kalutara, and Jaffna.

¶ 06 We will not use politics to delay. Public servants’ long-standing demands have been addressed even amidst disaster; we will take the country higher than before.

¶ 07 On expressways and roads: preliminary fixes like the Deduru Oya Wellawe bridge have been made, but full replacements are planned where engineering reviews show deficiencies. We will also remove the unnecessary Kerawalapitiya exit loop by Gazette, saving commuters 8–10 minutes; pilot in a few days.

¶ 08 On railways: we launched “Dream Destination” on Jan 2 to upgrade stations—Galle station reopening on the 2nd morning with Clean Sri Lanka and ministry support. At Peradeniya, a massive debris island was cleared with Lands and Navy assistance; after technical clearance, we aim to reopen the old railway bridge by March 31, ahead of Sinhala–Tamil New Year, and commence a new double-track bridge.

¶ 09 On ticketing: currently refunds and season tickets are constrained. We will expand refund stations and amounts. Within three months, launch online season ticket purchases—no need to come to Colombo.

¶ 10 On the Department of Motor Traffic: severe backlogs mean licenses take months or years due to past mismanagement. We started printing the backlog a month ago; 125,000 licenses have been printed; target to clear queues by March 31.

¶ 11 For Sri Lankans abroad: as a Christmas gift from next week, if a returnee presents a boarding pass and holds a foreign driving licence, they can obtain the local licence at Katunayake without visiting Werahera.

¶ 12 On SLTB: we increased buses from 1,000 to 4,800 during the disaster; provided intercity services when trains were cancelled; and will introduce bank card payments for SLTB tickets from January. Despite past political damage by various regimes, we are rebuilding.

¶ 13 On flood control: the President instructed us to address Colombo and Mannar flood management—long-term works will begin.

¶ 14 On Urban Development: the UDA will modernize 24 main areas in Colombo and collect fair user fees online by Dec 31, 2026. In the hill country, following final plans, we will develop integrated small townships with multiple departments together.

¶ 15 From Jan 1, new road safety regulations will be gazetted. We are managing the disaster and simultaneously taking the country to a better place with structured plans—the “Operation to Defeat the Cyclone” is underway. Thank you.