The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake - Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development and the Leader of the House of Parliament

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, although this is the Budget debate and we must speak to the economy, today’s unprecedented natural disaster compels us to address urgent, temporary and permanent solutions across sectors—education, roads and restoring livelihoods. While we handle urgent and temporary measures at our level and at the President’s level, the “Rebuild the Nation” vision is our permanent track, with conceptual and administrative groundwork underway to map where Sri Lanka should be in two years.

¶ 02 The North was unevenly affected: aside from parts of Chavakachcheri, Jaffna District saw limited impact; some areas in Kilinochchi were affected, including from inflows via Iranamadu; in Vavuniya, Neriakulam and Settikulam saw some damage and access issues; the heaviest impacts were in Mannar and Mullaitivu—especially Mannar. As of yesterday, there were 83 camps in Mannar; out of about 162 GN divisions, around 150 were under water, including Silawathura and Nanattan. Volunteer groups, MPs, the District Secretary and all stakeholders are working together...