The Hon. Aravinda Senarath

¶ 01 Please give me a little more time, Hon. Presiding Member.

¶ 02 We have arranged a fertilizer subsidy of Rs. 14,000 for inter-season cultivation. We have made arrangements to pay compensation to farmers. Hon. Presiding Member, in Sri Lanka there were ministers who put farmers through hardship by withholding compensation due to them, keeping those funds in their own accounts. This is that kind of country we inherited. When we came to power, within seven to eight months we paid farmers compensation that had been due two years earlier. The only government to finish paying cultivation compensation in Sri Lanka is the Maalimawa Government. For 2025, we have brought relief. As additional cultivation assistance, we will provide Rs. 15,000 per hectare. We have arranged a fuel subsidy for fishers. The President’s Fund has been extended to the village. Remember this, Hon. Presiding Member: the Opposition once opposed giving Rs. 200 from tax money to the plantation workers who bring dollars to the country, while back then they took money from the President’s Fund for their personal whims. They even claimed their houses had burned to obtain money through housing projects, siphoning off millions of rupees, and now those same Opposition MPs say, “Do not give the Rs. 200 allowance to plantation workers.”

¶ 03 Please conclude, Hon. Deputy Minister.

¶ 04 I will conclude.

¶ 05 We increased the basic salary of public servants from Rs. 24,250 to Rs. 40,000. Thirty percent of that increase will be provided from January 2026.

¶ 06 In this way, as a government, from 2025 we have arranged to give relief to people who suffered and to those who held on with hope. The year 2026 will also be very auspicious. The 2026 Budget will change Sri Lanka’s political and economic trajectory. With goal-oriented governance that the people expect, increasing the pace of development, we will bring a new economic revival and renaissance to this country. With that assurance, I conclude my speech.

¶ 07 Thank you very much for the time given to me.