The Hon. Rohitha Abeygunawardhana

¶ 01 Hon. Chairman, since you are a good consumer of fish, I thought you would give me about nine more minutes because this is a fisheries-related matter.

¶ 02 Why are we saying these things? Some get angry when we raise such issues—not you, Sir, but some others. What is the role of the Opposition? On the day of the Ministry’s Budget Head, the Opposition must point out what is good and acknowledge it. This Government has been in office for about a year and a few months. We did not criticize you every day. Why? Because we allowed you space to get going. But if the journey falters—if you fail, if the Government fails—we will say you have failed. If you are not able to move forward, we will say so plainly.

¶ 03 Either you accept a mistake, or you keep repeating the mistake and make us take the blame. It will be one of the two. We know well because we have made mistakes; we know what that feels like.

¶ 04 I must also remind you that Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa served as Minister of Fisheries and, later, twice as President, and did a great deal for the fisheries sector and fishing communities. He established “Diyawara Gammana” (Fisher Villages). In Parliament, someone once asked him, “Why build Fisher Villages in areas without fishers?” His reply was, “Everyone who eats fish is a fisherman.” That is how he acted to help people.

¶ 05 We say this to the Government very clearly and as mature people: take heed of these cautions and learn from them.

¶ 06 We see you are taking the Government forward. Sometimes problems do arise. Generally, in a pack of cards—what villagers call “playing the fool”—there are two jokers. Even when the Government functions well, jokers are now plentiful. Every day someone does something like a joker’s act and makes us laugh—not you, Hon. Minister, but others. A Government was not taken to do joker’s acts.

¶ 07 Please note the points we raised on behalf of the fisheries sector. I saw the Minister taking notes. In whatever way possible, fulfill the promises given to the fishing community. We are not asking for new things—just fulfill the responsibilities you undertook saying “our Government could not do it, but you can.” I quoted a part of the President’s speech as well; I ask the Hon. Minister of Fisheries to fulfill that too. Thank you very much.