The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, this is a good initiative; thank you. This is a previously stalled project. I believe our Minister will complete this highway with necessary tunnels to connect both sides. However, the Government today suffers the curse of “eight bundles on a palm tree”: pushing this project from 2.5% interest to 3.5%.

¶ 02 I watched Hon. Harsha de Silva’s discussion. Rs. 33 billion is being diverted from this year’s funds of Road Development to debt service by pulling Rs. 8 billion tranches from various lines. Using in-year road funds to pay debt means money that should have entered the economy now stops, becoming the first government to do so.

¶ 03 Minister Bandula Gunawardana tabled a technical report on the IMF Extended Fund Facility; I place Sinhala and English volumes in the Library and request the Minister to print and circulate them to all MPs so everyone can study what you have agreed with the IMF.

¶ 04 On tourism, Hon. Bimal Rathnayake proposed issuing driver licences at the airport for US$10 (approx. Rs. 2,000). Now about 40,000 foreigners are driving tourists around. Backpackers hire three-wheelers or vans, cramming 10–15, and often avoid hotels; tourist arrivals have risen but revenues fell by 8.2%. While the measure has benefits, it has severely impacted local tour drivers; please review. Also, visa-free entry for 40 countries is causing operational issues and forex losses; Immigration faces challenges at the airport—please reassess.

¶ 05 On Geneva, though the Government says it opposes the resolutions, because you did not request a vote, countries that might have supported us—Russia, China, India—were not with us. While you have taken some steps on anti-corruption and rule of law, failing to call a division was a mistake. Our economy is not growing, only the Government’s waistline is. Thank you.