Hon. Anuradha Jayaratne

¶ 01 If people take the train, they only travel on the roof, Hon. Minister. However, unless we change our administrative methods and move towards an integrated model with the private sector, whether we like it or not, this sector won’t move forward; these institutions will not be able to advance as a whole.

¶ 02 Hon. Minister, I have a small proposal. The monorail project—LRT—was halted. There was a Chinese investment for a monorail by the BYD company. Their plan proposed building a monorail from the airport to Port City. Later discussions with Japan were reactivated; then-President Ranil Wickremesinghe restarted talks and agreements. Accordingly, the team agreed to take a monorail project to Kandy. Not only did they agree, but the Secretary and Minister of Transport and other officials met and discussed it. Our State Minister of Transport also represents Kandy District. Therefore, I request that you revive and bring this project to Kandy. If this is left in the hands of officials alone, it will never happen, Hon. State Minister. You yourselves must actively take it up. This can transform the whole of Kandy. Then, key nodes identified were Kadugannawa, Thannekubura, and Katugastota, to be linked via a monorail. They also developed plans for passenger volumes and routes, and linked it to the Greater Kandy Project with presentations on how to proceed.

¶ 03 Hon. State Minister, in this debate on transport, this is crucial. BYD is a globally recognized institution and this was a project brought in with the Chinese Government. If possible, please reactivate it, with Government facilitation, and implement it centered on Kandy District. I believe it can transform the entire District, and you too will earn credit as the State Minister of Transport if you lead it to implementation.

¶ 04 Hon. Chair, likewise, the Urban Development Authority (UDA) has implemented many specialized urban projects under various classifications. The Director General and senior officials have made great efforts to uplift and develop our cities and take work forward.

¶ 05 Hon. Chair, however, we see a deficiency. During the period when former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, then Secretary of Defence, led urban development, plans were presented to make Colombo the fastest developing and a green city in Asia. The problem today is not who, how, or why, but how far these plans have been properly implemented. It’s not about which government made the plan. But if, when a government changes, the subject changes, or Directors General and Directors are reshuffled and everything changes, then this country can never be uplifted.

¶ 06 We know such things have happened in history. One President tried to build the expressway from Attanagalla to Kandy; later it was shifted to start from Kurunegala. If every time someone is appointed all plans change, the country cannot be developed. Nor can we attract private investment in such an environment.

¶ 07 We now have a government with 159 MPs. You can do anything in terms of laws and bills, Hon. Chair. Hon. Minister, therefore please review all your plans once again; if changes are needed, make them, and then gazette and institutionalize them as comprehensive development frameworks—so that when a minister or government changes, they cannot be arbitrarily altered. This is a respectful request, Hon. Minister. I say this based on experience.

¶ 08 Hon. Chair, in Gampola, the road from Sahira College to Nidahas Mawatha was planned in 1997. We only started it in 2017—20 years later. Even now, only the two ends are built; the middle remains undone. If some future government leases the acquired land and disputes arise, the built ends will be useless. This is what happens in our country.