The Hon. (Dr.) Prasanna Gunasena - Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, as a people’s representative of the ministry most affected by Cyclone “Titli,” a representative of the most-affected province—the Central Province—and the most-affected district—Kandy—I thank you for the opportunity, though it is with some regret under these circumstances.

¶ 02 Our Ministry of Transport and Highways is the most affected. Among A and B class roads, around 572 sections are completely destroyed. About 1,450.64 km of A and B roads nationwide have been damaged due to the cyclone, of which 723 km are in the Central Province. We have prepared plans and estimates. The cost to rehabilitate all affected A and B roads is about Rs. 68,844 million—roughly Rs. 69 billion. Of this, Rs. 52 billion is for A and B roads in the Central Province alone, with Rs. 32 billion for Kandy District.

¶ 03 Forty bridges are totally destroyed, including 18 major bridges; rebuilding or upgrading those 18 alone will exceed Rs. 6 billion. Overall, road-network damages are estimated at Rs. 75 billion. Including soil stabilization and safety structures that were historically neglected, total costs reach around Rs. 115 billion, and to rebuild better than before, approximately Rs. 190 billion.

¶ 04 In Kandy District, 102 A and B roads were blocked; 98 are now open, with four still closed. In Matale, all 38 roads are open. In Nuwara Eliya, two of 53 remain to be opened.

¶ 05 Railways suffered the heaviest departmental damage. Only about one-third of the network is currently operable. There were 91 landslides and rockfalls onto tracks, 73 instances of track-bed washouts, 38 culvert/bridge failures, 149 tree falls blocking lines, 177 minor formation issues, and 27 station damages. Main sections like Balana–Kadugannawa, Gampola–Nawalapitiya, Wattegama–Ukuwela, and Kotagala–Ambewela suffered major damage.

¶ 06 By 19 December 2025, we will fully reopen the Trincomalee Line to move cement and fuel. On 20 December, we will open Badulla to Ambewela—important for tourism. The Northern Line is operational up to Mahawa; by 1 January 2026, we aim to reach Kankesanthurai, restoring full operations. On the Puttalam Line, services now run up to Nattandiya; we aim to extend to Halawatha by 1 January 2026. The Batticaloa Line will fully reopen by 1 January 2026. A train is trapped on the Wattegama–Matale section due to track failure; we are creating temporary access at Wattegama to extract it by 15 January 2026. The Talaimannar Line is targeted for full reopening by 1 February 2026.

¶ 07 We have detailed plans, timelines, and costings for nationwide road restoration. We believe we gave the correct political leadership from the first day, despite many of our own Members’ homes being flooded and communications failing; they still worked on the operation without even checking on their own families for days. Many organizers’ families remain in camps even now, having placed the national task first. With the state machinery and volunteers unified, we can rebuild. The trust earned over the past year—our integrity and shared purpose—has activated the state mechanism and drawn foreign and domestic assistance.

¶ 08 Contrary to the view that the state mechanism is useless, we witnessed extraordinary dedication—District Secretaries sleeping only two hours after 48 hours; Divisional Secretaries and Grama Niladharis working continuously; officers exceeding their duty to serve the nation. The public now trusts the state mechanism, and the mechanism trusts the current political authority due to consistent engagement over the past year.

¶ 09 This unified mechanism gives us confidence we can lift the country in the coming one to two years. None of our 2026–2027 development plans will be abandoned despite delays; especially in the Central Province and Kandy District, planned development work commences tomorrow as scheduled.

¶ 10 Thank you.