The Hon. Chamara Sampath Dasanayake

¶ 01 Madam Presiding Member, the Budget has become an emergency. Badulla District is the most affected district in Sri Lanka, followed by Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Monaragala, Kalutara. People of the South have always saved this country and helped it. I first thank them. Today there are no bottled water, no rice, no onions in southern shops; yet, even if they go hungry, southern people have helped those in Badulla, Kandy, and Nuwara Eliya—especially from Matara, Galle, Hambantota, and other districts. People from the South are now in Badulla, cleaning villages, working, distributing, cooking, and feeding. I bow in gratitude.

¶ 02 But amid that, politics is also creeping in. See this photo: a cab of Hakmana Pradeshiya Sabha branded with the “red star.” Two such cabs going out with the red star on government vehicles. The Government must not stoop to this. Don’t politicize deliveries. I visited every center in Badulla and never took anything to distribute under my name; if I could hand a packet of salt, I did—without troubling anyone.

¶ 03 I urge the Government: do not do things in a duplicitous way.

¶ 04 At Hiddagoda Temple, Mr. Samantha Vidyaratna was there; over 300 people were sheltered. When I walked in, they spoke to me. I asked, “Are you red star?” They said, “No, we are from Matara; we came to work.” I asked what they needed and moved on.

¶ 05 Next: the main bridges in Badulla—Demodara Spring Valley bridge built by the British 150 years ago—is gone. Passara, Namunukula, Kanthale? (Kanewella/Badulla area) bridges—also British-era from early tea factory times—are gone. Lunugala Janatapura bridge is gone. You can’t reach Lunugala directly; you must go via Bibile. You can’t go to Passara. The road near Bhagala Malwatta cannot yet be rebuilt. A landslide from Silmiyaapura onto Ambewela road—about 6 km—means Ambewela road is still closed. The Nuwara Eliya–Badulla main road is still closed. Some roads will not reopen for months. Do not treat this as a joke—this is serious. Namunukula mountain split on two sides—one towards Passara, finishing that flank; the other towards Spring Valley, threatening Badulla town. Rocks fell—these are not “rock fall myths.” The mountain has collapsed; massive destruction. Do not take this lightly.

¶ 06 On Mahiyanganaya: For 46 years since Minister Gamini Dissanayake launched the Accelerated Mahaweli Project, if sluice gates at Rantambe and Randenigala had been opened properly on time, this would not have happened. The damage to Mahiyanganaya Base Hospital is indescribable. Patients come there from Kandy, Matale, Ampara, Monaragala, Badulla, Polonnaruwa—six districts. The hospital is devastated. Courts, Police, and the sacred Pooja city are all affected—such a thing has never happened since the Buddha’s time. Ministers cannot evade responsibility. If water had been released gradually and properly, this could have been avoided. Today, even one case cannot be heard—the files are destroyed.

¶ 07 I say: the Irrigation Minister must not dodge. The Highways Minister must resign. If due diligence had been done, some of this could have been mitigated. Responsibility cannot be shirked.

¶ 08 To the Minister of Plantations, Hon. Samantha Vidyaratna—this is your district. For three years, 15 perches at Kanewella were not allocated to people. Now is not the time for games. Tell the plantation companies: the Government must take back estate lands for resettlement. These are not ancestral inheritances; take them for the people.

¶ 09 About the Forest Conservation Department: when senior officers come to the DDC, do not look only for deference. Minister of Environment, instruct the Department accordingly. We can plant trees later; right now, enable people on these lands to live. Allow planting on landslide areas and undertake reforestation appropriately. Otherwise, we cannot secure lands for housing in Badulla and Passara. There are tens of thousands in camps in Passara; over a hundred thousand across the district. Where will we give them houses?

¶ 10 Also, take lands on long-term lease of 50 or 100 acres, and LRC lands held by moneyed people—take them all and rapidly start housing projects. Otherwise, when rains return, this will be forgotten, and people will return to unsafe homes; the next rains will push them back to camps. December is the heavy rainy month—act now.

¶ 11 Many have bank loans; cheques are being returned. Minister of Finance, bring relief: moratoriums for bank, interest, loan, and leasing repayments. People are destitute.

¶ 12 At Pannala, 11 elders died at a home because they had nowhere else to go. In our province, a mother and daughter died together. At the Tissara funeral parlor, as I watched, the water had flowed in and taken them—so many tragic incidents.

¶ 13 Another issue: why oppose those who help? Neth FM and Lanka Hospitals conducted clinics to provide medicines to the needy; the Director-General of Health Services issued a circular stopping private hospital clinics. Why? If a doctor goes and gives medicines to the distressed, why stop it? We must take help from anyone now.

¶ 14 Minister Sunil Handunnetti, Sri Lanka Sugar Company’s Chair has sent a letter to Lak Ruchan Enterprises. You complained to CID about Lak Ruwan on rice; now the same company is to receive brown sugar at Rs. 183/kg to send to Dubai, when we import 85% of our sugar needs. I table these letters.

¶ 15 This disaster has severely damaged Badulla. In Akiriya and Matigahathenna, people had nothing to eat. I saw Hon. Samantha Vidyaratna loading rice into a helicopter at Vincent Dias Ground in Badulla—that is good; people there needed it. I arranged supplies to Akiriya and Matigahathenna via Lunugala Pradeshiya Sabha by cutting through blocked roads. Many areas are in misery; recovery is not easy.

¶ 16 People don’t want to stay in camps; they want to retrieve their tea leaves. In Welgolla–Passara, when people complained to Mr. Samantha Vidyaratna, he came but said nothing. People are agitated; tempers flare; some try to show thuggery—do not. Listen to people; bow and hear them out. You cannot “beat up” a disaster into submission. Massive boulders have fallen; some fields are buried in sand. The country is in that condition.

¶ 17 I came from Badulla this morning just to thank those who fed us and because Parliament will be adjourned for a month. Let us not do politics here—let us work. Please give me two more minutes.