The Hon. Dilith Jayaweera

¶ 01 Thank you to Hon. Gayantha Karunathilleka.

¶ 02 Opposing that solution has delayed this work, making it difficult to collect tax revenue properly and repatriate export proceeds. Hence our poverty.

¶ 03 On major investment projects, the digitalization component shows an initial start date of 2021 and a multi-year spend profile. We proposed doing this in six months as a “Clean Sri Lanka” exercise. Rs. 50 million was allocated under the President’s Head; now it is Rs. 5,050 million. Let us use that too, but priority must be the Unique ID Number. Clean-ups alone will not fix systemic issues. To build a Clean Sri Lanka, bring in the Unique Digital ID immediately; not in five years.

¶ 04 On the digital economy, your policy statement speaks of nurturing digital entrepreneurs. Instead, you imposed a tax, now attempting to justify it by saying everyone should pay taxes. However, where we need to grow dollar-earning sectors, targeted relief for a year or two can catalyze start-ups selling apps abroad. The signal sent was negative and discouraging to youth. I urge you to exempt income generated by selected digital entrepreneurs from taxation for a period.

¶ 05 I was also pained by a statement by the Leader of the House alleging that professional institutions assisting construction claims would be arrested by the Police, effectively threatening them. As a lawyer, I must say this is wrong. These are professionals who bring in billions from abroad. He should clarify and apologize.

¶ 06 Chandana Jayalath, your appointee as Chairman of CIDA, has even authored a book on construction claims; claims are prepared accordingly. The narrative that all local entrepreneurs are thieves is harmful. I register my strong regret. I thank the Leader of the Opposition and Hon. Gayantha Karunathilleka for the opportunity.

¶ 07 Thank you very much.