The Hon. Anton Jayakody - Deputy Minister of Environment
Hon. Anton Jayakody spoke during the Committee Stage debate on the expenditure heads of the Ministries of Science and Technology and Digital Economy, focusing mainly on the need for research-based development of Sri Lanka’s natural resources. He noted that although the country has significant biodiversity, mineral resources, and gemstones, inadequate research, surveys, and resource management have contributed to underdevelopment and economic crisis. He also stated that the Government had contacted the Italian authorities regarding problems faced by Sri Lankans in Italy over driver’s licences and expected a resolution soon.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I thank the Leader of the House for the opportunity to speak at the Committee Stage on the expenditure heads of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Digital Economy.
¶ 02 I will focus mainly on the Ministry of Science and Technology, and also touch on the Ministry of Digital Economy. There is an issue faced by Sri Lankans in Italy regarding driver’s licences. Immediately upon assuming office, our Government took the necessary steps and informed the Italian Government. We expect the Italian Government to act accordingly and resolve this soon.
¶ 03 Sri Lanka is rich in natural resources—a vast biodiversity across oceans, land and climatic zones, and a medium abundance of clean mineral resources; especially, our country is renowned for gemstones. Despite such endowment, compared with other countries, Sri Lanka is poor—we declared bankruptcy on 12 April 2022. We, as NPP, have identified the reasons. Especially, we must undertake proper research on natural resources and develop accurate surveys...
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 11 March 2025 ·No. 1743759139093629 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Anton Jayakody - Deputy Minister of Environment. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 11 March 2025. No. 1743759139093629. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/19062