The Hon. Dilip Wedaarachchi

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, senior colleagues spoke on the economy; I will not dwell long on that. I wish to inform the House of the suffering of the innocent poor over the past year under this Government. There is no coherent programme to uplift small farmers and fishers — the leaders who feed the nation — to strengthen domestic agriculture and industry. Farmers are quitting; paddy farmers are destitute; potato and onion farmers are on the roads.

¶ 02 This Government, during last year’s campaign, ate from fields, smeared themselves with mud, dressed elites in loincloths, staged protests, dragged farmers onto the roads —

¶ 03 [Expunged on the order of the Chair.]

¶ 04 Having deceived the people and taken power, today farmers are cursing this Government on the streets. Fishers too are waiting, helpless.

¶ 05 From day one, this Government has been taxing people, raising prices of essentials. Rice is Rs. 180 per kilo; a coconut is Rs. 180; onion prices are up; retail prices, gas, electricity, water, transport, medicines, schoolbooks — all up. Promised tax reliefs were not delivered. Bus fares, soap, powder — everything increased. You boast of a full Treasury while denying people the basics. Rural people cannot buy medicines; hospitals lack drugs; only prescriptions are given; patients must buy from pharmacies. You gave seniors an extra Rs. 5,000 or Rs. 6,000, but created unlivable conditions.

¶ 06 You promised youth Japanese motorbikes, three-wheelers, and a Rs. 1.2 million “Vitz” car; you used these promises to win votes. Now, with higher taxes, vehicles are a dream. In this Budget, you have added more — a 15% Social Security Contribution levy on vehicles. As long as you are in office, people will not be able to buy even a bicycle.

¶ 07 On education: you promised to remove taxes on school supplies from preschool to university; the President said so on many stages. Nothing has been removed, and the Rs. 6,000 promised for schoolbooks is mired in bureaucracy. Under our leader Sajith Premadasa, we provided school buses and started smart classrooms; in Hambantota District alone, 38 buses were given. Your Government stopped Sajith Premadasa’s school programmes by regulation. Are you now providing buses or smart classrooms? If the President wishes, he can ask the Opposition Leader to resume bus distribution and tablets. When we proposed sanitary pads for schoolgirls and buses for schools, you mocked us as “Pad man” and “Bus man.” The people were deceived and now suffer.

¶ 08 On health: under our Good Governance government, Minister Rajitha Senaratne made cardiac surgeries in state hospitals free and provided unlimited cancer drugs. Then, spectacles and lenses were provided; the prices of 380 medicines were reduced; blood tests were free. Today people must pay; for surgeries they must pay even small consumables; earlier these were free. Now the poor cannot find insulin like NovoRapid in the market; even syringes are inadequate. The current Health Minister, being in the medical field, should seek guidance to rectify this.

¶ 09 You said fuel-tax components would fund fuel subsidies for fishers, including for lamps, but not a cent has been allocated for fishers’ relief. While some harbour allocations are there, the Deputy Fisheries Minister campaigned with torches in boats to attract votes; today there is nothing for fishers.

¶ 10 A salt shortage was engineered to allow a company to profit from imported salt, with commissions. Similarly, unnecessary imports like rice, onions and potatoes were brought in; commissions flowed to various pockets.