The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna - Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure
Minister K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna stated that internal estate roads are owned by estate companies and are not vested in local authorities or state bodies, with companies historically responsible for maintaining roads and line rooms. He said that, due to poor maintenance and resident communities’ needs, the Government also has a responsibility to provide basic infrastructure, and that about Rs. 100 million has been allocated through the Ministry to improve estate and estate-adjacent roads while engaging companies on maintenance.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Internal estate roads belong to the respective companies and are not vested in local authorities or other state bodies. However, given poor maintenance and that communities live within estates, the government carries a responsibility to provide basic infrastructure. Under historic agreements, the primary responsibility for maintaining estate roads and line rooms lies with estate companies.
¶ 02 From our Ministry’s infrastructure division, around Rs. 100 million has been allocated for improving roads within estates and in estate-adjacent areas. We are engaging companies to maintain those roads, and the government intends to further intervene to provide necessary basic facilities.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 18 February 2026 ·No. 23308 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna - Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 18 February 2026. No. 23308. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/20223