The Hon. R. G. Wijerathna

¶ 01 Madam Deputy Chairperson of Committees, today we debate the Resolution under the Customs Ordinance, the Regulation under the Excise (Special Provisions) Act, the Order under the Finance Act, and the Regulation under the Construction Industry Development Act. Many points have been raised by Ministers and government members. Yet those who dragged the country to an economic abyss now say the economy has not expanded and benefits are not reaching the people. I will illustrate at the local level that revenue has increased and benefits are reaching people.

¶ 02 Why was tax revenue lost? Assets subject to tax were not properly regulated, nor properly assessed; and there was no confidence or incentive to pay; above all, laws were not enforced. Since coming to power, this government addressed all that.

¶ 03 In our Nuwara Eliya District, at Hagguranketha, a quarry supplying black stones was held by the chief organizer of the SJB in that electorate, not obtained transparently nor properly assessed. Thus revenue was lost. Under the new government, the District Coordinating Committee regularized and assessed it. Last year, that quarry yielded only Rs. 80,000. This year, with the involvement of the Department of Mines and Valuation, and auctioning for one year, the revenue is Rs. 4,025,000—50 times higher. This is how revenue was raised.

¶ 04 In Rikillagaskada town, 21 shops are on state land with long-term leases but many had not paid. We explained to them that the services they receive depend on these payments. The arrears plus fines totaled Rs. 16 million. They were given a grace period and have started paying this year.

¶ 05 On Samurdhi: in Hagguranketha, properties of Samurdhi banks were used and Rs. 280 million spent to start a private garment factory. Later that publicly-built factory was sold to a private company. A court case is pending; I will not go into details. That land is state property and no lease was paid for eight years. Now, proper assessment is being done to recover dues. In Rikillagaskada, more shops had been allotted by Pradeshiya Sabha members to themselves without paying rent. Legal action is underway.

¶ 06 On the benefit side: our electorates lack heavy machinery for agriculture. Instead of arbitrarily giving equipment to individuals, we allocated Rs. 3 million, bought machinery and gave it to the Agrarian Service Centre with a responsible officer. Farmers can borrow them when needed.

¶ 07 On dairy: we are developing lands to grow high-quality fodder. The Divisional Secretariat and the Veterinary Office are coordinating with the Land Reform Commission to utilize underused lands of state and plantation companies for fodder production.

¶ 08 Thus, while increasing revenue, we are ensuring fair distribution of benefits to the people. The Opposition, unable to bear this renaissance, keeps grumbling and misleading people. Understand reality, or you will politically perish. Thank you.