The Hon. Jeevan Thondaman

¶ 01 Thank you to the Leader of the House for action. Please ensure it is not only a temporary suspension but a permanent remedy. Often, after six months they are reinstated. I trust you will consider this.

¶ 02 On road development: when I took over the Water Supply Ministry, it was losing about Rs. 3,200 million monthly. We turned it around to about Rs. 6,000 million in profit by running it properly. We then requested President Ranil Wickremesinghe to allocate those profits as development funds for the hill country. He allocated for roads. Through that, we rehabilitated 4.2 km from Bogawantalawa to Loinon; 3 km from Bogawantalawa to Keok; 12 km on the Norwood–Bogawantalawa road (2 km pending); 4 km on the Bohairds–Battalgala road; 5 km from Kotagala to KGKS GW; 2.5 km on the Galton–Beaconfield road; 5 km in Wattagala; 5 km from Sandiri Grama to Boyslant (2 km pending); 4 km on Nagasena–Pasumale; and 17 km on the Hatton–Bohairds road. We have addressed most major roads. One issue remains: around 294 km in the hill country are yet to be rehabilitated. High material transport costs deter contractors. Dayagama and Frotoft roads, for instance, have stalled. Even with allocations, contractors won’t take them unless BSR rates are increased. Please consider increasing BSR rates.

¶ 03 Hon. Minister, you are continuing previously initiated work without interruption, and I thank you. In the hill country, Dayagama and Frotoft roads and St. Andrew’s Upper (Maskeliya) are critical. Please rehabilitate them—we will fully support you. The Hon. Deputy Minister also inspected these in Hatton. If we finish these works, I will be happy to garland him at the opening next month.

¶ 04 On housing: I am not speaking of the Indian housing programme but the Ministry’s programme. During Hon. Sajith Premadasa’s tenure as Housing Minister, not many houses were built in the hill country because the policy statement said existing “Line” rooms would be renovated, instead of giving land titles to people to build their own homes. Many think hill-country people cannot build homes—this is wrong. If you give them land, they will build, whether estate workers or otherwise. Because of the wrong notion that Ministry-built houses are unnecessary if land is given, only 387 houses are budgeted this year through the Sri Lankan Government, while 1,300 are via the Indian Government. Please increase allocations to the NHDA. More appropriate than building houses is giving land titles. We repeat this every Parliament sitting. There are 251,000 families without houses in the hill country. India has already provided 4,000 houses, and 1,300 more are underway; even if you promise 5,000 or 10,000, at best only about 1,000 can be completed this year—this won’t solve the crisis.

¶ 05 Out of 204,000 hectares owned by plantation companies, granting even ten perches per family would need about 4,777 hectares. We allocated Rs. 2,000 million for this in the previous Government, but now even that is insufficient. Land ownership is essential. Populist politics will not change lives. I may be in Parliament today and gone tomorrow; the same for all. Real change requires land titles. When I was Minister, despite resistance, we completed 629 houses in one year, and commenced 600 of the 1,300 Indian-funded houses. We faced political opposition to providing land because some said people would sell them. Whether they sell or keep it is not our concern—land deeds are provided nationwide, not only to hill-country people. You have five years and a two-thirds majority, with MPs representing the hill country. Let any one of them say I am wrong. They know the truth as I do. You cannot do politics with houses—give land titles. We will fully cooperate. The Cabinet has approved this three times; it only needs implementation.

¶ 06 Hon. Prime Minister, one more matter. Earlier, my colleague Hon. D. V. Chanaka raised the issue of chromium content in water. It was mentioned that hydrated lime containing 14 mg of chromium has been brought in. Anything above 10 mg can cause liver diseases, CKD, etc. We asked to test and reduce it below 10 mg. I believe this morning the Hon. Deputy Minister for Environment said it was reduced to 12 mg and that they will try it out and then test. I sincerely request that samples be sent to the JRDC—Joint Research and Demonstration Centre for Water Technology—of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board at the University of Peradeniya, get it tested, and curtail it below 10 mg. Anything beyond that is harmful.

¶ 07 Also, Hon. Leader of the House, with due respect, earlier you said that after his Al Jazeera interview, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe may have suffered brain damage. People did not vote for me to defend him at every turn; nor did they vote for you to continue petty insults. Had you faced that interview, you might have needed a stretcher; and if the President had been there, we might have had to check his pulse—just saying.