The Hon. Arjuna Sujeewa Senasinghe, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the President spoke about the preface. The previous Government mocked that you cannot do a budget preface by shifting a few percentage points here or there. Let us look at the current President’s capacity with his preface.

¶ 02 Hon. Speaker, please look at “Proposed Legal Reforms for 2025” listed in the last Budget. First: the Act on the Exchange of Information between State Institutions — not done. Second: Investment Protection Act — not brought. I could go through 1, 2, 3, … up to 10, and then No. 11: Amendment of the Paddy Marketing Board Act, No. 14 of 1971 — also not brought. This Government has still failed to bring even these laws.

¶ 03 We spoke of capacity. We said, “Give them a supermarket to run and see.” If a Government takes office and does not do these, that is misuse of State resources. A huge allocation has been made. If these are not done, the country’s birth rate of prosperity declines; people become poorer. The Government is tied up and has done none of these. Eleven Bills have been presented, but not enacted. You too should ensure progress, Hon. Speaker. You are also a stakeholder of this Government. As Speaker, you should insist: “If you have presented, get it done; otherwise we too will be blamed.” Bring these Bills to Parliament and finish the work quickly or else refrain from empty talk. You can talk and beat your chest, but you cannot deliver. I will keep pointing this out.

¶ 04 Hon. Speaker, I draw attention to Budget Proposal No. 36 in the last Budget.

¶ 05 - Rs. 500 million allocated for modernization of school education — execution is near zero. The funds remain unspent. - Rs. 200 million for high-ranking university degree scholarships — execution also near zero. - Rs. 900 million for students in vocational education — execution near zero. - Rs. 500 million to develop a sports culture — execution near zero.

¶ 06 Funds were allocated for agriculture, factories and youth entrepreneurship. These are public funds. This is misuse. These are funds squeezed out of the people.

¶ 07 Due to lack of time I cannot cover all. There are items where execution is only 15 percent. Rs. 500 million was allocated for tourism promotion and city branding — only about 15 percent spent. Rs. 500 million for empowerment of Aswesuma beneficiaries — about 68 percent spent. Is the President still doing a preface now? No. If ministries cannot spend allocated funds, establish proper mechanisms. I am not scolding; I am saying: ensure these are implemented. These are the people’s money. If such large sums are left unutilized, the public loses. That is misuse. For this, all 159 can be jailed. Hon. MP Chamal Sampath has cases for using a fixed deposit to pay bills due to insufficient cash flow — meanwhile, billions are allocated and only 15 percent is spent. Then what is the President’s job? You scold people for decimal points in inflation, but you cannot spend even 15 percent of allocated funds. Where is development then?

¶ 08 Hon. Speaker

¶ 09 Hon. Member, in addition to your 18 minutes, you will have eight more minutes.