The Hon. Sunil Biyanwila

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, I am pleased to speak on the Heads of Expenditure of the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Co-operative Development.

¶ 02 The previous speaker said not to trust our front-line leaders in suits. I wish to remind him that we have confidence in all 159 Members on the Government side. If we did not, we would not sit in this Parliament. Our front-bench colleagues have made sacrifices through history to come here not to do what you did, but to build a new country, to strengthen the economy, and to fulfil the mandate the people gave us. That is the aspiration we all share.

¶ 03 I throw you a challenge: if, in future, any of our Ministers do what you allege, we will apologize before this House. That will never happen. We guarantee our Members will meet this challenge and fulfil their responsibility. None of our 159 Government MPs have asked for vehicle permits, bar permits, or any other such privileges. What they have asked is the opportunity to work on behalf of the people.

¶ 04 We will together deliver what the people expect. Some said we cannot walk the streets in our attire. True, we do not ride the V8s you did. We walk; we go to the farmers’ markets, to the bazaars. People understand that, as before, today too, MPs go among the people; they know we came to rebuild the country. You will see this confirmed by the mandate the people will give at the next election.

¶ 05 Opposition MPs claimed a tax of Rs. 65 was imposed on rice. Yes, Rs. 65 was imposed. But think about the taxes throughout history: where did that money go? Was it used for people’s welfare and national development? No. Our Government does not spend even 50 cents in the rupee of that tax for private indulgence. We do not take those taxes as commissions. We invest all those revenues for the people’s tomorrow—for health, education, and other sectors. Had your historic commodity taxes been directed to the national good, we would not need to levy taxes today.

¶ 06 Prices in the market have been declining for goods. Compare March last year for big onions, potatoes, and sugar with today—prices are coming down. The economy is strengthening. Under this Budget, by April, public servants will get salary increases, and you will see how much the economy has expanded. We are working at all times to strengthen the economy, and we are confident it will strengthen further.

¶ 07 On paddy purchases, critics ask how much we bought. Yes, volumes were modest, but we have a plan. We have cleaned and strengthened paddy warehouses and allocated funds for procurement. We have begun that work and will continue it through Yala and the following Maha seasons, organizing measures to increase production. We are preparing to cultivate fallow lands and to give greater support to farmers—fertilizer subsidies, seed paddy, and related inputs—to build up our paddy stocks. We believe that by the next season we can purchase a substantially larger volume.

¶ 08 From this morning Members also spoke on the cooperative sector. It is vital, and as a Government we recognize its importance and are taking necessary measures. Historically, cooperatives were politicized; elections were marred by handouts to capture control, which was then abused for theft and fraud. We are acting now to prevent that, to win back cooperatives across the country, strengthen them, and develop the cooperative enterprise as a robust force whose benefits will reach the people.

¶ 09 Sathosa too has faced criticism. Public trust in both Sathosa and cooperatives eroded over time because these institutions were seen as dens of corruption. We aim to liberate and strengthen them so they can play a major role in the economy. Cooperatives became confined to retailing, welfare disbursements, petrol sheds, and florists. We aim, swiftly, to transform them into production cooperatives—especially to channel the purchase of minor export crops and cottage products across districts. We will bind grassroots communities to these cooperatives, rebuild trust, strengthen them, and convert them into production-oriented bodies that both supply affordable goods to the public and provide fair farmgate prices to producers—particularly where private buyers have paid low prices.

¶ 10 Not only the cooperative movement, we will strengthen all sectors to fulfil the mandate the people placed in this Government at the last elections. All 159 of us will work with dedication, setting an example, to empower our people. Thank you for the time.