The Hon. M. Nizam Kariapper, PC

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, from my 10 minutes, I will give three minutes to Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara. I will confine myself to seven minutes. A small deal.

¶ 02 Before speaking on the Head of Expenditure of the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development, allow me a brief note. Today is a happy day. I have a fondness for astronauts. From last night until this morning, I watched the arrival of our heroine Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore. I am truly delighted and proud. She went for a week and stayed for nine months. I recall the film “Gravity,” the story of a female astronaut lost in space. We witnessed this event with our own eyes. I extend our admiration to her, and my good wishes to the United States for her safe recovery. Actually, I wish Sunita Williams and her colleague a speedy recovery from any health issues they might face since they had to spend nine months in space.

¶ 03 The second pleasant matter: at the start of Parliament today, the Hon. Speaker delivered a special ruling. We thank him. I have no personal enmity with anyone, but he ruled to safeguard the dignity of Parliament, concerning Hon. Ramanathan Archchuna. I trust that when he returns, he will use the exposure and privileges we receive here properly, without creating hostility among citizens—particularly important after we barely emerged from the post–Easter attack climate. I first raised it; then the Hon. Leader of the House also submitted matters. Having considered all, under Standing Orders, the Hon. Speaker gave a lawful ruling; we accept it and express our appreciation. We hope that through the sanctions, the Hon. Member will change his conduct.

¶ 04 Third good news: our former IGP has surrendered. He was not arrested. Hon. Presiding Member, this is what I want to say. Often when police go to arrest a suspect on warrant, the suspect gets a message from an officer: “We are inside, file a motion, surrender, and sort something.” Then they grab him at the gate, take him round and say “Captured,” and then even oppose bail. But fortunately for former IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon, nothing like that happened; he went to the Matara court without issue. The good in this is that, not only for him but for all suspects, police should allow them to come before court without obstruction. That facility should be for all, not only for him. Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara is also here; henceforth when we present such matters in court we can say, following the former IGP’s example, do not arrest suspects on the way but allow appearance before court.

¶ 05 Hon. Minister, one brief matter on your Ministry: the Valachchenai Paper Mill. You know it in the Eastern Province. I am told there is a serious problem with the paper-making machine that uses paddy straw; they now use only old papers for recycling. Please look into this. Your Estimate shows Recurrent Expenditure Rs. 2,167,000,000 and Capital Rs. 397,000,000—how unfair. Of that, Rs. 125 million is for modernization of the Hingurakgoda rice mill, but nothing for the Valachchenai Paper Mill. If there is a technical issue, please resolve it and restore operations.