The Hon. Shantha Padma Kumara Subasingha

¶ 01 Madam Deputy Chairperson of Committees, before my main remarks, I will respond to a few Opposition points. When we speak of a 76-year curse, our “economic expert” across says this was not a country without food or drink. In fact, there were fuel and gas queues, power cuts, and a collapsed country. On 12 April 2022, Central Bank Governor Nandalal publicly declared Sri Lanka a country unable to repay its debt—a country where even water could not be pumped. That is the curse.

¶ 02 Some now preach about independent commissions. A former IGP said only two OIC appointments were non-political under their government; all others were political. Yet they lecture us on the National Police Commission’s independence. They also rant about “30 missing animals” in the zoo—check the CCTV to see who came from where. People who even stole the Sri Pada bell and museum swords are now lecturing on independence.

¶ 03 They attack police appointments, yet when Deshabandu Tennakoon acted, when there were operations against criminals, when weapons were shown and drug kingpins died, the Leader of the Opposition did not open his “holy mouth.” He said he would never join Ranil even if he became emperor; now he has joined. They also tried to oust a Chief Justice by using a whole day here; again, silence. Hypocrisy.

¶ 04 We collectively stand by the President, Prime Minister, and Cabinet as one team of 159. We will be accountable together. Nobody is perfect; our aim is to minimize errors and correct them.

¶ 05 They nitpick about the President’s buttons or slips of the tongue, but ignore drug seizures and major crimes in the South. When our Ministers speak a word out of place, it is a crime; when their side’s scandals occur, it is fine. Morality is relative for them.

¶ 06 On development: I thank Minister Bimal Rathnayake, Deputy Minister Prasanna Gunasekera, and State Minister Ruwan Kodituwakku. We are modernizing 32 railway stations—Colombo Fort, Maradana, Galle, Kompanna Veediya, Trincomalee, Jaffna and more. We are upgrading bus services: the Central Bus Stand at Pettah is being renovated; 25 SLTB depots are being developed; ten buses dedicated for persons with special needs are being imported; procurement is complete for 200 new luxury buses; procurement is complete for five new DMU sets; 5,000 fans for coaches; 12,000 rails to increase speeds; and driver cabs will be air-conditioned.

¶ 07 On roads, the “Path to Revival” rural road program is underway; the halted iRoad program is being restarted; and under World Bank-supported ICDP, 2,000 roads will be developed. In my Ratnapura District alone, Rs. 7,200 million has been allocated. The Sooriya Kantha–Arapporuwa 10 km road is funded by Saudi and OPEC—Rs. 10 billion—with an extra Rs. 4 billion from our Government. Over 32 bridge projects have commenced; in Ratnapura District, critical bridges—Deniyaya–Madampe 106/13, Madampe–Deniyaya 106/14, 93/4, 106/4—are being built. This Supplementary Estimate is not because we cannot spend; it is to reallocate within law during a recovery from crises they created.

¶ 08 The Dhammapada says, “As the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the cart,” so the consequences of their deeds follow them. Thank you.