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

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, on behalf of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, I move:

¶ 02 “That the Order made by the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies under Section 2(3) of the Special Commodity Levy Act, No. 48 of 2007, published in Gazette Extraordinary No. 2464/14 of 25th November 2025, and presented on 05.02.2026, be approved. (Cabinet approval has been granted.)”

¶ 03 Additionally, I present the Orders at Items 2 and 3 (Special Commodity Levy Act – Orders No. 2 and No. 3), Item 4 (Customs Ordinance – Resolution), and Items 5 and 6 (Motor Traffic Act – Orders No. 1 and No. 2).

¶ 04 Today, several items will be debated. The State Minister of Finance will address Finance Ministry matters. I will lead on matters under the Transport Ministry.

¶ 05 Hon. Speaker, let us all, as MPs, speak in accordance with the Standing Orders and use proper language. The Hon. Minister gave a clear, detailed reply; turning everything into morning drama is not appropriate.

¶ 06 On transport, I present two Gazettes. First, due to Cyclone Ditcha, many could not renew driving licences between 25 November and 24 December; we have granted additional time to renew—this Gazette is presented today. Second, previously only Weeraketiya handled foreign (non-citizen) licence renewals; after we came to office, we added Bandaranaike International Airport as a facility. Initially a lower fee was planned; later set at Rs. 45,000 for renewal of a Sri Lanka driving authorisation for a foreign national. These two Gazettes were implemented and are now duly presented to Parliament, having been approved in the Ministerial Consultative Committee.

¶ 07 We aim to instill discipline in transport: three-wheelers, taxis, school vans, and office vans have long remained poorly regulated, causing issues for operators and parents alike. We are finalizing regulations for all four categories and, over the next two months, will conclude consultations with stakeholders.

¶ 08 Recently, we obtained powers to test drivers and conductors for drug use. The mobile lab bus will be used for testing. Data show driver occupations are among those with higher substance dependence. We are working with the College of Physicians; experts have clearly shown that under the influence of drugs/alcohol, drivers cannot make timely and correct decisions, contributing to many accidents. In 2025, 2,700 deaths occurred; about 2,000 involved motorcyclists and pedestrians, often due to other impaired drivers. Hence, we are pushing discipline and drug control.

¶ 09 Seatbelt enforcement existed before; we strengthened it, mandating rear-seat belts on expressways. Public awareness was conducted with medical experts and public figures, since data from the College of Surgeons show seatbelts reduce fatal/serious injury risk by about 40%.

¶ 10 On card payments in buses: systems have begun; any bank card can be used. A separate transport card would require production, distribution and a parallel regime, whereas open bank cards are already in use. Concerns exist about foreign mother companies and outward commissions. We engaged, with the Ministry of Digital Economy and the Central Bank, directly with the mother companies of the two dominant card schemes in Sri Lanka. We can state with satisfaction that one scheme has officially agreed to waive its commission on certain transport payments—specifically, bus fare payments. The other scheme has unofficially indicated a similar position. Thus, bus owners will not bear 1% or similar commissions for card payments; this benefit will be delivered shortly.

¶ 11 On driving licence issuance: there was a backlog of 490,000 accumulated over years. By end of this month, we will clear it, and by mid-March restore one-day service.

¶ 12 We have been cleaning up the DMT, which had become a haven for corrupt officials and rogue companies—acting with the Attorney-General’s advice and legal action as needed.

¶ 13 On railways: Cyclone Ditcha devastated the network. Of Sri Lanka’s roughly 1,700 km of track, only about 400 km could operate immediately after; the rest was down. Within about two and a half months, we restored around 1,200 km. This was possible due to the tireless work of railway staff, the public, and crucially the tri-forces. Their engineering assets moved rocks and machinery; without them we could not have reopened even half so quickly. At Peradeniya, a major bridge collapsed; with the University of Peradeniya, CECB, and others, we are working to restore it before the 14th of April. Navy divers laboured for days to clear submerged debris. The tri-forces also assisted in Bandarawela, Mannar and elsewhere; similarly on national highways, landslides in Nuwara Eliya, Kotmale, Ramboda and more were addressed by RDA with tri-forces and Indian Army support. Hospitals too saw international assistance: Indian doctors at Mahiyanganaya; Japanese doctors at Chilaw. Today, about 99% of RDA roads and bridges are passable.

¶ 14 We have no intention of using the tri-forces to break trade union action. Training about 20 tri-service personnel as reserve locomotive operators was solely for emergency preparedness, not to deploy them into the railway service. Daily, around 280 train services run; training 20 officers cannot impact the system meaningfully. We regret that a strike was called, even threatening O/L students’ exams. We did not call in the military during earlier stoppages in 2025 either—even when trains were halted for days over bag-carrying or restroom issues. We are recruiting: 190 locomotive drivers, and station masters after 7–8 years of stagnation.

¶ 15 To students sitting the O/L exam and their parents, I apologise for the anxiety caused for a few hours yesterday. Services are normal today, and students reached exam centres.