The Hon. Vijitha Herath - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, we inherited a bankrupt economy. Through sound economic planning and fiscal discipline, we have strengthened the economy day by day and brought it onto a stable footing within a very short time. It has been one year now. In this brief period, we have laid the essential foundation to steer our economy towards future strength and stability.

¶ 02 Another step in laying that foundation is this Budget we have presented. It sets out our economic policy for the coming year and the programmes based on it. We are proceeding on a clear and robust path. The economy is stabilizing day by day, and there is also political stability in the country. There are no ethnic or religious clashes. In the past, the situation was different: the economy collapsed and corruption was rampant. Today, we have created a peaceful, democratic country free of those problems. Our people now look to the future with optimism. It is at such a moment that we have presented this Budget.

¶ 03 We discussed the targets and our vision over several days. Various Members expressed views. Regardless of commentary, we are moving forward strongly and successfully, together with the people who are hopeful about this journey.

¶ 04 At such a time, we have intervened on behalf of the Malaiyaha (plantation) Tamil community who, for over 200 years, have laboured and shed sweat to build the national wealth of this country. For two centuries, they have had no proper place to live, no land, no decent wages. Their three core problems are: no house, no land, and inadequate wages. If today we enjoy free education and free health, if our people benefit from any prosperity in the economy, it is due to the sacrifices of these Malaiyaha people. At a minimum, their cultural identity and equal citizenship should have been secured. Instead, they were held in a form of bondage and treated as second-class. Various politicians misled and exploited them with tokenistic politics, pushing their lives deeper into hardship. That is their dark past.

¶ 05 Before we came to power, we made the historic “Hatton Declaration,” pledging that when the National People’s Power forms a government, we will intervene to secure the rights of the plantation workers who suffered for 200 years. We committed to resolve their housing and land issues, wage issues, education, health, and basic infrastructure, and to recognize that they are entitled to the same rights as every other Sri Lankan citizen. For the first time in history, we recognized them specifically as “Sri Lanka Malaiyaha People,” instead of labeling them as of “Indian origin” and treating them as second-class.

¶ 06 When citizenship was first to be granted to them, the then United National Party government opposed it. They were denied voting rights into the 1970s and treated as outsiders and as bonded labour. No government properly secured their rights. Therefore, within our policy framework of ensuring all Sri Lankan citizens’ rights, we intervened. We are now allocating land, providing housing—backed by significant budgetary allocations—and progressing housing assistance projects under Indian lines of credit. We have commenced issuing firm land titles. The necessary legal groundwork is being laid.

¶ 07 On wages: during elections they were constantly promised increases but never received them. We engaged several rounds of negotiations with estate owners. Ultimately, the owners agreed to a Rs. 200 increase from their side. But that is insufficient. Everyone knows a casual mason today earns Rs. 3,000–3,500 a day. Yet plantation workers, who rise before dawn and labour in harsh conditions, receive a pittance. Therefore, we decided to provide, through the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure, a Rs. 200 attendance incentive funded by the Treasury, on top of the owners’ Rs. 200, amounting to a Rs. 400 wage increase. No previous government has ever granted a one-time Rs. 400 increase to plantation workers. We did so for the first time.

¶ 08 After 200 years of contributing to national wealth, if they got only Rs. 1 each year, they would still only have Rs. 200 today—this for a people who shed blood, sweat, and tears. It is shameful that a complaint has been lodged with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption against even this Rs. 200 attendance incentive. That Commission should pursue those who looted public wealth, not a meagre Rs. 200 for estate workers. The Member who complained is from Matale District—a district with plantation communities. This is an unwise, historic mistake. Those who speak of women’s rights should also note that most plantation workers are women; and women largely power our foreign exchange earnings—through migrant remittances and the apparel sector—followed by tea and rubber exports where many women also work. Opposing a Rs. 200 increase for these women is indefensible.

¶ 09 We are not directly paying wages from the Treasury to private-company employees. The Treasury allocation is to the relevant Ministry to support plantation community development—this is lawful and defensible. Similar allocations are made across ministries for sectoral support.

¶ 10 We will continue discussions with estate owners to reduce their production costs so they can contribute more to wages as the economy strengthens. We will resolve housing and land issues in the short term—the groundwork is already laid. As a government, we recognize the Sri Lankan Malaiyaha Tamil community with dignity and will ensure all rights due to them, regardless of who opposes or votes against it. We guarantee we will protect their rights.

¶ 11 Thank you.